WHERE'S YOUR BALLS
by XYLIABABE
Summary: Lester believes Steph is using Ranger to fill her time until she patches things up w/Joe.  This is Steph's side of the story. Babe story.  Rated for language.  Originally a one shot that turned into a full length story.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I DON'T…SHE DOES…I'M NOT…

WHERE'S YOUR BALLS

CHAPTER 1

"Hey, Les, Bobby. How are things?" Steph asked walking into the break room at Rangeman.

"Hey, Stephanie." Lester sneered. "If you're looking for Ranger...he's not here and I think it would probably be best if you left before he got back."

"Lester, is there a problem?"

Lester let out a disgusted huff of breath and continued flipping thru the magazine in his hands.

"Bobby, what's going on here? Is something wrong with Ranger?" Steph questioned with worry in her voice.

Before he could answer, Lester snapped at her yet again.

"Stephanie…" That was the second time he'd called her by her full name. What the hell was wrong with him? "…Let me guess…you and the cop are on an 'off again' phase and you're here to dangle the cheese in front of the mouse. Do you ever stop to think what that does to Ranger?"

"Lester…what the fuck is that supposed to mean? I'm here because I haven't seen you guys in a while. None of you call me anymore. I just missed you, that's all. Besides, Joe and I broke up three months ago…for good this time." Steph explained.

"Yeah, right. Everyone knows when you and the cop are fighting and everyone knows it's only a matter of time that the two of you will be back together." He sneered. "We've all seen it too many times."

"Morning, Bombshell. Haven't seen you around lately." Tank greeted her.

"Sorry, Tank…I was just leaving. Appears I'm not welcome here, anymore." Steph couldn't believe Lester had just attacked her. She thought they were friends.

"What? You're always welcome here. Where did you get that idea?" Tank questioned.

"Why don't you ask Lester? He seems to have a problem with me." Steph replied.

"Santos, is there something you'd like to share?" Tank demanded.

"Tank, everyone knows that she only comes around when she's fighting with the cop. She drops in, flirts with Ranger, sways her ass in front of him and gives him hope. She has him practically coming in his pants for her, just like a fucking teenager. Then, she yanks it all away and leaves him angry and unbearable.

We're always the ones left to pick up the pieces and put up with his bad moods. Hell most of the time…at least half of us end up in the ring with him. He beats his anger out on us.

I'm sorry, Steph, I just can't see how you can keep hurting him like you do. You say you care about him. If you did, you'd leave him alone. How many times are you going to keep giving him hope then reject him?"

"Rejection? Fucking rejected him? Let me tell you about rejection. I feel like a fucking whore. He steals kisses in the alley behind the bonds office. He feels me up while attaching my distraction wire and then walks away as if nothing ever happened…not even breathing heavy…totally unaffected. You want to talk about being a play toy…that's exactly what I am to him. I'm not fucking good enough to be any more than that to him.

Do you know what it's like to spend one amazing night with someone? Some one that you're so consumed with love for, you're willing to take whatever you can get from that person just to be near them. Of course you don't. Because men like you and Ranger…and the rest of you…" Steph said waving her hand around the room. "…are the ones that destroy times like that, not dwell on them for the rest of your life."

Steph was getting a little loud. A little may be an understatement. She was screaming at Lester. Cal, Hector and Hal came running into the break room to see what had happened.

She didn't care if she had an audience. She had kept this bottle up inside her since that night and damn it, she was going to have her say. It was eating her up inside. It was time for her to get it off her chest.

Maybe Ranger was the one she should be yelling at, but she hadn't seen him, much less talked to him in over two months and Lester just happened to be the one to open the can of worms…so to speak.

"Well, let me tell you. Ranger and I spent a night like that together. Yeah, you didn't know that did you? None of you knew he fucked me, did you? Well, he did and let me fill you in on what happened.

It's one of those times you spend the rest of your life trying to forget because you know that you'll never experience anything like it again. It was full of passion. The 'I'll never be the same after this' kind of passion.'

I gave him 'the cheese' as you like to call it, Lester. I gave him everything in me. I gave to him completely and when it was over…he crawled out of my bed, got dressed, told me to go back to Joe and walked out on me.

There was no room for me in his life. His type of love came with a condom not a ring or kids. He's been avoiding me every since. So…fuck you and fuck him." She screamed, flipping him both of her middle fingers.

"Do you know what it's like to know you're not enough? Not woman enough…not good enough for a man? The man you would give anything for…even your own life. Yeah, I'd give my own fucking life for him. I'll bet you don't know what it feels like. Well, let me tell you…it hurts. Fucking hurts like hell.

Yeah, I may have ran back to Joe, but…it beats being alone and rejected." By the time Steph finished her little rant, she had tears streaming down her face and the entire room had fallen silent. Steph wasn't sure if it was that no one knew what to say or all of them were just afraid to say anything.

Steph softly muttered, "If you can't have the one you love…love the one you're with." Then turned to walk out the break room.

When Steph turned to head out the door, she ran straight into Ranger. _Oh fuck_, she wondered _just how much had he heard_.

Oh well…it wasn't as if she could be anymore humiliated than she already was. Everyone at Rangeman now knew she was a failure as a woman.

She ran past Ranger. Hitting the stairs, not wanting to wait for the elevator. All she wanted was out of there as soon as her legs would carry her.

When Steph got to the parking garage, she stopped running. She leaned against the wall and let her body slide to the ground. With her face in her hands, she let it all out...months of anger and hurt was finally being released.

What else was she supposed to do? Steph forgot her purse, with her keys in it, it the break room. She had no way to leave and it was for damn sure she wasn't going back up there.

Ranger walked into the break room at the end of Steph's little speech. He heard most of what she said, but for the life of him, couldn't figure out what instigated her rant. The sad thing was all that said was true.

"What the fuck is going on in here? Why was Steph yelling?" Ranger demanded an explanation.

Santos surprised Ranger when he sucker punched him in the jaw.

"You sorry son of a bitch." He hissed at him. "All this time, I defended you."

"Because you're my friend, I'm going to give you a chance to explain what just happened before I kick the fuck out of you." Ranger warned.

Hal and Tank stepped between the two of them. Like that was actually going to stop Ranger. Sure Lester was his friend but he was also his employee. Ranger would never tolerate this kind of behavior from any of his employees.

"You want an explanation? I'll give you one. You're a sorry fucking piece of shit. I defended you, man. I felt sorry for you. I hated Steph for breaking your heart. I thought she was using you to fill her time until things were smoothed over with the cop.

You used her. You fucked her then threw her out like yesterday's trash. She honestly believes she's not woman enough for you." He laughed. "This is fucking funny. She thinks she wasn't good enough in bed to satisfy you.

The mighty Manoso has broken another woman. Another notch in your belt. How does it make you feel?"

Ranger felt like shit. The truth was…she was more woman than any man deserved. She was incredible. The most passionate, sexy woman he'd ever known. For all that she receives, she gives back…double.

"Stupid." Ranger finally muttered.

"Well, you have the stupidity covered…do you have the balls to fix it?" Lester sneered at his friend.

Ranger noticed Steph's purse on the table. He grabbed it and made a mad dash for the stairs. Maybe if she was still be there; he could tell her how sorry he was. What an incredible woman she was. How much…how much he loved her. Maybe he could fix things.

**tbc**

**A/N: Ok, whata yaw think? Do yaw want the rest of the story? I admit it, I'm a review whore.**


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't…She does…Unfortunately…I'm not…

WHERE'S YOUR BALLS

CHAPTER 2

Steph jumped to her feet when she looked up and saw Ranger coming thru the garage door. The last thing she wanted was a speech from him. She had already heard how his life doesn't lend itself to relationships…at least a thousand times. She did not need to hear it again. All she wanted was to go home and drown in her own self-pity. Tomorrow would be another day, but tonight…she wanted to feel sorry for herself.

She had heard all he had to say on the relationship subject. She didn't need him to remind that she would never be a part of life for any other reason than an occasional fuck.

"Steph, wait." Ranger called to her.

"No, Ranger. I can't do this right now. It's bad enough all of your men know what a failure I am as a woman…do you have to remind me how pathetic I am?" Steph pleaded.

"Babe, please?" Ranger took Steph by the arm in hopes of keeping her from running. "You're not pathetic. And, you're defiantly not a failure when it comes to being a woman."

"What do you call allowing you to treat me like your whore because I'm so desperate for whatever you're willing to give me?" She glared at him. "I accepted what little crumbs you'd throw me because it was better than nothing at all. I don't know about you, but I think that's pretty fucking desperate. Guess I wasn't what you expected."

"I'm sorry. I never realized how what I was doing made you feel." Ranger tried to apologize. "But, you're right about one thing. You weren't what I expected...you were even more."

Steph noticed Ranger had her purse in his hand. She reached for it, hoping he would let her have it and she could leave before she humiliated herself any further.

Ranger moved Steph's purse just out of her reach. She defensively grabbed for it, again.

"If you listen to what I have to say…just hear me out, if when I'm done…if you want to leave, I'll give you back your purse. You'll be free to leave and I'll leave you alone. Deal?"

"You haven't bothered to call me much less talk to me in months. Now all of a sudden you feel like talking? Why should I listen to you? Your men…my friends think I'm some kind of horrible person. They think I used you. You made a fucking deal with me just to get me in your bed. You knew I needed your help and you took advantage of me.

You…you're the reason. You never told them what happened. God forbid that someone would think less of the Almighty Ranger Manoso."

"Babe, I had no idea."

"Ranger, you have five minutes. I'm tired, embarrassed and there's a carton of Ben and Jerry's Half Baked in my freezer, calling my name."

"Babe, I know I've screwed things up and…"

"That's an understatement." Steph sneered.

"Babe, give me a break. I'm trying."

"Go on…you have four minutes and twenty nine seconds left…twenty eight…twenty seven. You're running out of time, I suggest you start talking."

Ranger ran his hand thru his hair and let out a nervous breath of air. He knew this was his one and only chance. If he didn't make things right this time, he would lose Steph forever. He wasn't sure that was something he could live with, no matter the consequences.

The truth was…he stole those moments with her for the same reason she allowed them to happen. Those moments were better than having nothing from her at all.

"Babe, I never told anyone what happened that night because I was ashamed." Ranger tried to explain, but oh, boy...it didn't come out right.

"Ashamed? You're ashamed of sleeping with me? I'm glad you cleared that up for me, Ranger. I feel much better now thank you. Could this night possibly get any worse? Wait, never mind…forget I asked. I'm sure fucking Murphy is hiding out somewhere just waiting to make a bad night even worse." The tears started to fall. He was ashamed. She couldn't think of anything he could've said that would've hurt worse than he was ashamed. "I've heard enough. Give me my purse so I can go home."

"No, Steph…wait. That didn't come out right."

"Its ok, Ranger…you don't have to explain anymore. I'm going home. Good night."

"What I meant was I was ashamed of what happened afterwards. There's not a day that goes by that I don't regret sending you back to Joe." Ranger knew he was screwing up already.

"Then why did you and if you regret it that much, why haven't you tried to change things? Must not've bothered you that bad."

"I was in bed with you, holding you in my arms and all I could think about is how much I loved you…how right it felt to hold you. You were everything right in the situation. I was the wrong part."

"Ranger that makes absolfuckinglutely no sense."

"In my mind it did. I've never been in love, Steph. It scared the shit out of me. What if I couldn't live up to what you wanted? I know you think I'm not afraid of anything, but I am. Or, I was. I was afraid of loving you…of you not loving me. I was afraid of getting my heart broke. Funny, huh? A badass mercenary…afraid of getting his heart broke."

"Oh…so you decided it would be ok to break my heart. Kind of double standard there isn't, Ranger? God forbid that your poor little heart gets broke. I'm here to tell you, it fucking sucks. I don't wish this feeling on anyone." Steph hissed at him. "Not even you."

"Then I thought about all the horrible things I've done in my life. What if something I did came back to bite me in the ass…at your expense. I couldn't live with the fact that something happened to you because of me. Or, what if you found out and decided you didn't like the person I was, very much. Steph, it will kill me to see disgust in your eyes when you looked at me."

"For your information…you're all I ever wanted from the first time you kissed me. You fucking moron. I never asked you for anything. All I ever wanted was for you to love me the way I loved you."

"I did, Babe…I do."

"Ranger, in case you have noticed...I tend to attract every weido in Jersey and a few other states. And I do that all on my own. Do you honestly believe staying away from me is going to make my life any safer?" When Ranger didn't answer, Steph spat, "I didn't think so. That's just another fucking excuse."

"Please, come up to my apartment…we can talk. I'm sure the guys are at the monitors listening to our every word. We can have some privacy."

"No."

"No?"

"What's the matter, not used to someone telling you no? What am I thinking? Of course you're not used to being told no."

"Babe, please?"

Ranger knew Steph could never say no to him when he used the "P" word. He was counting on it working this time. Boy was he wrong. In fact, he couldn't have been farther from wrong.

Steph reached out, took her purse from Ranger and turned to walk toward her car.

"I'm going home. It's been an exhausting night. I'm tired and need to forget tonight ever happened. I'll talk to you later."

"Babe…" Ranger reached out and took her hand.

"Not now, Ranger. I'm going home."

"When?"

"When, what?"

"When will I see you?"

"Oh, I don't know…maybe tomorrow. Maybe the next day. Can't really say."

"Ok." Ranger's voice sounded so defeated.

Ranger felt dejected as he let go of Steph's hand and she turned to walk away.

Steph started walking toward her car. She stopped and turned to Ranger. "You know I really hate you sometimes."

"And the rest of the time?" Ranger questioned

"I wish I could hate you."

_**tbc**_

_**A/N: Any thoughts on what's going to happen next? I'd love to hear your comments. **_

_**I'd like to apologize. I know I said another chapter would be posted last night. But RL threw me a wamy. To help everyone understand why I sometimes have to break my promises, my mom is ill and requires a lot of my time. There are times when you may not see a chapter for weeks. I apologize in advance. **_


	3. Chapter 3

I still don't…She still does…I'm never will…

WHERE'S YOUR BALLS

CHAPTER 3

Steph woke the next morning with her hair stuck to her face. Her eyes were red and puffy…evidence that she cried herself to sleep.

As bad, as she wanted to pull the covers back over her head and stay in bed all day, that wouldn't get her rent paid. The bond business hadn't exactly been good, lately. Either everyone was keeping his or her court dates or no one was breaking the law. Either way, Steph was strapped for cash.

Normally when she was low on money, she would go do some part time work or a distraction job for Rangeman. However, she hadn't worked for Ranger in over three months.

Not one call for a distraction job, no "hey can you help out with some searches." Not a word from him. It's as if she didn't exist to him anymore.

Steph showered, shaved and all the rest of her morning rituals. After scarfing down a cherry Pop Tart, she headed to the bond office.

"Girl, you look horrible. What happen to you?" Lula asked.

"Nothing, I'm fine." Steph told her, hoping she'd drop the subject.

"Your eyes are puffy. You can't tell me you haven't been crying." Connie said. "You look like hell and that make up you're trying to hide it with is not doing the job."

"Gee, thanks. You two sure know how to make someone feel better. Glad, you're my friends." Steph said, plopping down on the sofa.

"Steph, we are your friends, you can tell us anything. Maybe we can help."

"I doubt, not this time. My life is a mess and there's no fixing it, I'm afraid." Steph sighed. "Do I have any files, Connie?"

"Yeah, I have a couple. These two just came in this morning. This one came in yesterday." Connie said handing her the files.

Just as Steph sat down to look over her files, Ranger walked in the door. The tension was so thick in the office; you could cut it with a knife.

"I'm out of here. I'll catch you later. I need these skips. Rent is due." Steph said good-bye to Connie and Lula, ignoring Ranger as she walked toward the door.

Ranger gave Steph a slight nod as she passed him. Steph gave him the same, not saying anything.

"Um-huh. I knew those puffy eyes and swollen face belonged to a man." Lula huffed. "What'd you to do my girl, Batman?"

Ranger didn't answer. He just looked at Steph with a pleading look.

Steph was out of the bond office in a flash. She wasn't sure if she was relieved or hurt that Ranger didn't try to stop her.

She made her way back to her apartment, fighting tears. Once inside her apartment, she fell apart.

The next couple of days, Ranger waited for a call or a visit or anything from Steph. Hoping once she'd had time, she'd give him the chance to explain.

Five days had gone by since anyone from Rangeman had heard or seen of her. Ranger couldn't take it anymore. He had to know that she was ok.

Ranger sat in his office, thinking about Steph. Not that she wasn't constantly on his mind. He pushed the intercom button to the monitor room.

"Santos, in my office, NOW!" He ordered.

"What now? I didn't do anything." Lester hissed when he walked in Ranger's office.

"I want you to go to Steph's apartment and apologize to her." Ranger insisted.

"Apologize or spy for you?" Lester questioned.

"I don't like your attitude, Santos." Ranger growled. "I think you owe Steph an apology."

"You're right; I do owe her an apology." Lester said. "But, if you are so worried about her, you should go check up on her, yourself."

"Are you questioning me?"

"No. Why can't you just admit you want to know what's going on with her? I plan on apologizing to Bombshell, but not because you think I should or you want me to spy for you." Lester coldly stated. "I'm going to apologize because I was wrong."

"You're right." Ranger admitted.

"You're a self centered son of a bitch; you know that, don't you?" Lester asked. "If I were you, I'd be groveling at her feet, begging her for another chance…begging to forgive your sorry ass."

"Yes, I do. Lester, I'm so afraid I'll never have the chance to fix things."

"It would serve you right if she never talked to you again. You know that, don't you?"

"Yes, I do."

"I was planning on going by her apartment when I got off duty. I'm not saying I'll talk to her for you, but I will at least check on her for you.

What you did was fucking wrong, Ranger. I said some fucked up things to her because I thought I was defending my best friend. Some hurtful things. I'll be lucky if she even lets me in the door."

Lester finished his shift on the monitors and headed to Steph's apartment. He was really worried about her. No one from Rangeman had seen or heard from her in almost a week and he heard from Tank that she hadn't been by the bond office in two days.

She turned in her body receipts and told Connie she was taking a few days off, that's the last time they'd seen her.

If anything had happened to her or she did something stupid, Ranger was to blame. He would personally see to it that Ranger paid for hurting her and causing him to hurt her.

Steph's car was in the parking lot when Lester got there. He parked next to her car and took the stairs to her apartment.

"Steph, are you in there?" Lester called out, banging on her door.

"Go away, Lester. I don't feel like talking about what happened in the break room and if Ranger sent you over here to talk me into talking to him…I don't want to talk about that, either." Steph yelled thru her closed door.

"Come on, Bombshell. You know I can get in, if I want. It would be easier if you'd just open the door."

"Oh…alright, damn it, come in, Lester." She said, opening the door.

"How are you?" He asked.

Steph looked like she had been on a two day drunk. She had dark circles under her eyes. Her hair was a mess. She had no make up on her face.

"I've been better." She muttered. "Sometimes you have to smile, pretend everything is ok, hold back the tears and just walk away."

"Steph, you look like hell."

"Gee thanks, Lester. You really know how to make a girl feel good. Is there a Rangeman course for how to talk to a woman and make her feel like shit?"

"I didn't come to argue with you, Bomber."

"Then why are you here? Did you come to yell at me some more for using your friend? Or, maybe you came to tell me what a tease I was. Shame on me." Steph snarled.

"Beautiful, I came to apologize. I was wrong. I was only seeing one side of the story. I never even knew you slept with him. Please forgive me."

Damn it, what is it the "P" word. Did every last man know when to pull it out of their hat? Steph looked up at Lester. He was giving her these incredibly irresistible puppy dog eyes.

"Fuck. You know you're making it really hard for me to be mad at you."

"I know I'm irresistible, you don't have to tell me." Lester tried to tease her. "So, am I forgiven?"

"Look, Lester, I'm not mad at you. You thought you were defending your friend. I understand why you said the things you said. Let's forget that night ever happened, ok?"

"Friends again?" Lester asked.

"Yeah, friends again." Steph smiled.

Lester leaned over and hugged Steph. It was good not to have to be mad at her anymore. He hated being mad at her. Ranger, on the other hand…he was still pissed at him.

"Does this mean you'll come by a see us, now?" Lester asked.

"I'm not sure. I'm kind of avoiding Ranger. I'm not ready to deal with him. He tried to give me some bullshit excuse why he sent me back to Joe. But, you know Ranger logic it doesn't always make sense.

He said he sent me back to Joe because he loved me. That's a hell of a fucking way to show someone you love them." Steph sneered. "Hey, I love you, but I'm sending you to another man. What the fuck kind of thinking is that, Lester?"

"Steph, I know it's hard to believe, but he does love you."

Steph started to interrupt Lester, but he held up his hand to sush her. He told Ranger he wasn't coming to Steph's apartment to help him. For some reason he couldn't help it, he knew, even though Ranger was a dumb ass, he did love Steph.

"Did Ranger make you come to see me?" Steph glared at Lester.

"No, he didn't. I came because I needed to be your friend again. Steph, he's miserable and so are you. I can tell. You look like hell and you haven't been to the bond office in two days. Connie and Lula are worried about you."

"I am miserable, Lester. What am I supposed to do, he's been avoiding me for months. No calls, no stopping by to see me. He says sending me back to Joe was one of the biggest regrets in his life. How am I supposed to believe him when he's avoiding me like the fucking plague?

And…what if he decides he doesn't want me again? How do I know this isn't a ploy to get me back in his bed, again?"

"You don't, but you'll never know if you don't give him a chance to show you."

"I don't know, Lester, I'm not sure. I don't think I can survive my heart breaking again.

"I think he's learned his lesson this time."

"I have to learn to trust him again and I'm not sure he deserves my trust right now. That's something he'll have to earn all over again."

"How is he going to earn it if you don't give him the chance to show you?"

"I guess you have a point, but he's not trying very hard. I haven't talked to him since that night at Rangeman. I even ran into him at the bond office. He didn't even say hello to me. I barely got a nod out of him."

"Steph, he's only doing what he promised you. He told if you if you walked away, he wouldn't bother you anymore. You walked away. He's respecting your decesion."

"I just needed some time. I was humiliated and hurt. I didn't mean all those things I said to him. Well...maybe some of them. But I don't really hate him."

"I know you don't, Beautiful. Take some time...get you feelings worked out and then go talk to him. Please don't take too long, though. He's making all of us miserable."

"Thanks for coming by, Les. I still love you. I was hurt at first, but I understand you didn't know the whole story."

"You're welcome, Beautiful and just so you know...it was killing me to be mad at you. I love you. I'm going to get going. Can I come by again?"

"Sure, Lester. Tell everyone I said hello." Steph walked Lester to the door.

"Does everyone include Ranger?" Lester asked.

"I don't think so. Oh…what the hell, why not."

"Bye, Beautiful."

Lester hugged Steph and kissed the top of her head before turning to walk out her door.

_**tbc**_


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: You know the drill…I don't…She does…I'm not…

WHERE'S YOUR BALLS

CHAPTER 4

"Ranger, man…can you hear me? Ranger, answer me." Tank was yelling into his radio.

Sounds of a shotgun rang thru the darkness. Everyone called in safe…everyone except Ranger.

Things got fucked up somehow. It was supposed to be an easy pick up, no surprises. Unfortunately, things didn't turn out that way. The Intel was good…but unfortunately, Rangeman wasn't the only one the informant was working for that night. He made the mistake of double-crossing them. He warned the skip that someone would be coming for him.

He was waiting at the door for them. Ranger sent Tank and Lester to the back door, Bobby and Hector was on the north side of the house, Ren, and Cal on the south. Ranger always took the front entrance.

Tank counted five shots before he realized what was happening. Tank took off to the front of the house, with Lester hot on his heals. Ren, Cal and Hector ran after the skip.

It seemed as if it took Tank forever to get to the front of the house. When he did, Ranger was laying on the front porch. There was blood everywhere. There was so much blood, he couldn't even tell how many times Ranger was hit.

"Some one get an ambulance here." Tank yelled into his radio. "Ranger's down. He's been shot. I can't tell how many hits he took."

"I got it, man." Lester said as he ran up the steps.

"Where's Brown?" Tank's deep voice boomed through the night.

"Here I am." Bobby said. "Tank, move back let me check him out, man."

"Babe. Tank…tell her I loved her." Ranger breathlessly whispered before he blacked out, again.

"Ranger, damn it…I'm not delivering that message. If you want her to know you love her, your fucking ass better not die so you can tell her." Tank ordered.

"How bad is it, Bobby?" Lester asked.

"Looks like he took three bullets. Two in the stomach and one in the chest." Bobby continued to examine him. "I can't tell if it missed his heart. From the angle it went in, it very well could've. He's still breathing. His heart is weak, but still beating. Those are both good signs."

"Where the fuck is that ambulance?" Tank growled.

The wail of sirens rang out in the distance. Trenton's finest was the first to arrive. Lester was standing on the street waiting for the ambulance to arrive when Joe pulled up in front of the house.

"What the fuck have you lunatics done now?" Joe sneered.

"Morelli. We didn't do anything." Lester growled.

"I heard the call for an ambulance. I know someone is injured. Please tell me Steph isn't involved." Joe wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer.

"She's not here."

"Good. Now you can tell me here or I can haul all your asses to the station." Joe warned Lester.

"Ranger's been shot. It's not good, Morelli. He may not live. Took three bullets…one to the chest." Lester said.

"I'd like to say I'm sorry, but I wouldn't mean it, you know?"

"Fuck you, Morelli." Lester said.

"You're not my type, Santos."

"Where's your skip?" Morelli asked.

"He must've gotten away." Lester sarcastically replied.

"Yo, Ren…do you get him, man?" Lester called to him as he rounded the house.

Ren saw Lester talking to Morelli. He knew if he said yes, the cop would probably either want to see him or offer to take him in for Rangeman.

That wasn't a good idea. The guy wasn't in very good shape…hell, he wasn't exactly conscious.

"Naw, man. He ran before we could get around the house." He smiled.

"If you ask me, you guys are too calm considering your skip skipped on you. He shot your boss. You're not just a little upset about him getting away?" Morelli suspiciously questioned.

"Ranger is our main concern right now. We'll get him."

"When you do, make sure you bring him in alive." Morelli ordered.

"Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to check on Ranger." Lester snapped.

The ER attendants were waiting in the front of the ER when the ambulance arrived. Three black SUV's were squealing in right behind.

When the ambulance doors opened, the medic pulled Ranger out; CPR was in progress. Ranger coded on the way to the hospital.

Bobby was doing compressions and one of the medics was bagging him. Tank barely put his truck in park before he jumped out and ran to the back of the ambulance.

"Ranger, you fucking listen to me. You can't die. I refuse to deliver that message. You best fucking wake up or she'll never know you loved her. Do you hear me?

I'm not fucking playing. You are not going to fucking die." Tank was yelling at him.

"Sir, please…back up and let us get him inside or he is going to die." Some Amazon of a woman pushed Tank out of the way, jumped on the stretcher and took over compressions.

They wheeled Ranger into the ER. They wouldn't let anyone back to see him.

"Bobby, what happened?" Lester asked.

"We were on our way to the ER. Everything seemed to be fine. Well as fine as things could be considering he'd been shot three times.

He started moaning. He was calling for Steph. Mumbling about being sorry he hurt her that he loved her more than his own life, and then he coded." Bobby said.

"We shocked him three times. His heart started beating for a few seconds and then stopped again. We've been doing CPR the whole way here." Bobby quickly told them what was happening, and then went into the ER to be with Ranger.

"Hey, don't you think someone should got tell Steph?" Ren asked.

"Let's see what the doctor has to say and then I'll go tell her." Tank said.

The men walked in the hospital. Tank went to talk to the nurse…who was of no help.

"I want to know how my friend is and someone is going to fucking tell me, am I clear?" Tank slammed his hands down on the desk at the nurse's station.

"Sir, if you don't calm down, I'm going to have to call security." The nurse warned him.

Just then, the doctor came out with to talk with whoever was there for Ranger.

"How's Ranger?" Lester sprang to his feet.

"Hi, I'm Dr. Rowsalski. Mr. Manoso is in bad shape. It was necessary to defibrillate him, but his heart started beating again. He's still in serious condition. We're prepping him for surgery now.

He has a clasped lung, a ruptured spleen and possibly a lacerated liver. After examining him, we found a fourth bullet wound. The fourth one hit him in the leg, just missing his femoral artery. We're pretty sure the bullet that hit him in the chest missed his heart, but we won't know for sure until we get him into surgery. He's bleeding internally. He will more than likely need blood later. If any of you would like to donate in his name, the lab is on the third floor.

It will be touch and go. If he makes it through surgery, we'll have a better idea of his chances. Right now, I'm not sure he'll survive the surgery."

"How long before he goes into surgery?" Cal asked.

"It won't be long. Maybe half an hour. We'd like to get him sooner, but we're waiting on a cardiac surgeon." Dr. Rowsalski answered.

"Will our medic be in there with him?" Lester asked.

"Yes, we've already made the arrangements for him to scrub in with the surgeons." The doctor answered.

"Good. I feel better knowing that Brown will be in there with him." Tank said.

"What about Bombshell. We have to tell her." Lester said.

"I'm on my way. Hopefully, she'll agree to come to the hospital and we can get back before the boss goes into surgery."

Tank left, hoping he could convenience Steph to come back to the hospital with him.

_**tbc**_


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Same old situation…I still don't and she still does and always will…unfortunately

**WARNING: Joe is NOT a good guy in this chapter. He is mean, insulting and down right rude. If you even remotely like him, I'd hit the little "X" now.**

WHERE'S YOUR BALLS

CHAPTER 5

"Ok, ok. I'm coming. Damn…what the hell is so all fire important that you have to bang on my door in the middle of the night?" Steph yelled. "Who goes to another person's house at this time of the night, anyway?" Steph stomped toward her door.

"Who's there?" Steph asked.

"Hey, Bombshell, it's me." Tank called through the door, smiling at the thought of her asking who was at her door. The old Steph would've simply opened the door. Ranger would've been proud of her for checking first.

"Come in, Tank." She said, opening the door. "Don't you think it's a little late for a visit? You can go tell Ranger to fuck off; I'm fine. He can stop sending you guys over to check on me."

"Bombshell." Tank was acting strange. "I'm not here to check on you. Umm…Steph."

"Tank, what's wrong? What happened?" Steph's voice changed from annoyed to concern. She could tell by Tank's actions that something was very wrong.

"We had a take down go bad, tonight." Tank chose his words carefully.

"Was someone hurt?" Steph asked.

"Shots were fired. Steph…"

"Oh my God, one of the men was shot? Who was it, Tank? Does Ranger know, yet? Wait…why are you here telling me?"

"Bombshell…" Tank didn't even get to finish before she started gasping for air.

"No. Please…no…tell me it wasn't Ranger." She pleaded.

"Steph, I'm sorry." Tank apologized.

"Oh God, Tank, is he ok? He's not…" She couldn't even bring herself to say the words.

"No, he's a live, but barely. He took four bullets. Two in the stomach, one in the chest and one in the leg. The doctor isn't sure if he's going to make it thru the surgery." Tank caught Steph just as she was falling to the floor.

"No." She sobbed. "I hope he's ok. Tank; promise me you'll let me know how he's doing. Will you keep me updated?"

"Are you saying you don't want to come to the hospital? Steph, I thought you loved him."

"Tank, I told him I hated him the last time I talked to him. Do you really think he would want me there?"

"I think he would. Damn it, I told him I wouldn't deliver this message that if he wanted you to know, he was going to have to live to tell you himself.

Steph, the last words he said was to make sure you knew he loved you." Tank swore he was not going to deliver this message, but he knew Steph and he knew he wouldn't be able to get her to the hospital if he didn't.

"Tank, you say all kinds of things when you think you're going to die. How do you even know that he meant what he said. Maybe he meant he loved me like his sister or...or..." Steph didn't know what she meant. She was making a sad attempt at rationalizing the mumblings of a dying man.

"Steph, he loves you. Everyone around can see how much he cares for you and you can't tell me you don't love him. You two are like an electrical current when you're near each other. I'm telling you...sparks fly. I saw your reaction when you realized I was talking about Ranger. Steph, you're pale as a ghost. I had to catch you to keep you from hitting the floor. Look me in the face and tell me you don't love him and I'll leave. I will go back to the hospital alone."

"Let me get dressed; I'll be right out, have a seat."

Steph and Tank walked into a waiting room full of gloomy faces. By the time, they got to the hospital, Hal, Hector and Ren had arrived and were waiting with Lester and Cal. There hadn't been any more news since Tank left, but the last news they did get wasn't good. Lester was the first to greet her.

"Hey, Beautiful." Lester pulled her to him, hugging her tightly. "He's going to be fine, you know. When have you known Ranger ever to give up on anything?"

Steph couldn't help but to think what Lester said wasn't entirely true. He had given up on her. Now wasn't the time to get into that, though. She wrapped her arms around him and accepted the comfort he was offering.

"Hey, Les. Thanks." She whispered.

With his arm around her, Lester led Steph over to where the rest of the Merry Men were sitting. One by one, they each took a turn hugging her and trying to reassure her Ranger was going to be fine. Even though they weren't sure they believed it themselves, not one of them was going to let Steph believe otherwise.

"What happened?" She asked.

"Our informant turned on us. He warned the skip. He was waiting for us. You know Ranger…always taking the front. When he stepped on the porch, the skip opened fire. He took four direct hits. By the time we got to him, he had already lost a lot of blood." Hal told her.

"I can't believe he might…" Steph couldn't even finish her sentence. The tears started again.

Hal knelt down in front of Steph. He pulled her into his arms and rocked her. "He's not going to die. We have to keep faith."

"Hal, I was so horrible to him. I said some really awful things to him. What if he dies and I never get to tell him I didn't mean what I said?" She sobbed.

"He is not going to die. You will not give up on him! Do you hear me?" Hal demanded.

Steph buried her face in Hal's shoulder and cried. Hal held her and let her cry until there was nothing left but an occasional hic-up.

When Steph looked up, Joe, Eddie and Carl were standing in the door of the waiting room. Joe had a smug look on his face.

"Looks like Batman isn't so invincible after all." He curtly said.

"What are you doing here, Morelli? I don't recall anyone asking you to come." Lester sneered at him.

"I'm here on official business. It doesn't matter if you ask me to come or not." Joe hissed back. "I need statements. I'm afraid I'll need you all to come down to the station."

"We're not leaving." Tank flatly said.

"Are you refusing to cooperate with the police?" Joe asked. "I can arrest all of you for refusing to cooperate with a police investigation."

"Joe, their friend is in that room fighting for his life. I'm sure this can wait." Steph turned to Carl and Eddie with a pleading look in her eyes. "Eddie, please."

"Cupcake, this doesn't concern you…for once, you're not involved. I guess there is such a thing as miracles." Joe smiled smugly at her." I'm just doing my job. Why are you here, anyway?"

"Don't be an ass, Joe. For once in your life, act like a human being, let it go for tonight. Can't you see how upset everyone is." Steph glared at him.

"Joe, come on, man. You know we don't have to do this now." Carl stated. "I'm sorry, guys. He said we were just going to ask a few questions."

"I'm a cop; I'm doing my job." Joe said.

"Fuck you, Morelli. You can suck my dick. I'm not going anywhere until Ranger is out of the woods." Lester hissed.

"You'd just love another man's mouth around your dick, wouldn't you? Is that what you faggots do when you're supposedly on 'surveillance,' sit in a truck sucking each other's dicks? Damn, if Manoso dies, one of you is going to be without a partner." Joe smirked.

Lester leaped from his chair and charged at Joe. Hal and Tank had to grab Lester to keep him from getting to Joe. Lester's face was red and he was snarling like a rabid dog. If he could just get his hands on the motherfucker. He was in a good place, because Joe was going to need serious medical attention if Lester could get to him.

"I bet you'd just love to take your chances with me, right now…wouldn't you? Come on, what's stopping you? I'll even give you the first swing." Joe taunted.

"Lester, don't. Come on, Man, he's just trying to rawl you. You know if you swing at him, you're going to jail for assaulting a police officer." Hal tried to control Lester. "Don't let him do this to you. Ranger needs us…here not in jail."

"Joe, what the fuck is wrong with you? Do you hear what's coming out of you mouth? Did your mother have any living children or are they all brain-dead like you? Now get the fuck out of here." Steph turned to go back to her seat. Joe's words stopped her dead in her tracks.

"Cupcake, I have a job to do and that's what I'm here to do. Why do you care, anyway? I know for a fact that what I said would happen is exactly what happened. He used you and when he was done…you were like yesterday's news…forgotten."

It was Steph's turn to lunge at Joe. Ren grabbed her around the waist to stop her from getting to him. A brawl in the waiting room was the last thing needed.

"You piece of shit. Get the fuck out of here." Steph hissed.

"Come on, Joe. We can come back later. We don't have to do this now. Let's just go." Eddie had Joe by the arm.

"I expect to see you all down at the station tomorrow…bright and early. Don't make me come for you; I'd hate to charge you thugs with Destruction of Justice. I will if you force me." Joe was fuming. He really didn't care if Ranger died or not. "Huh, all the better if he did," Joe thought.

"I'm sorry, Steph. He told us he just wanted to ask some questions. We didn't know he was going to cause a scene." Eddie tried to explain.

"It's ok, Eddie. I know this isn't your fault. Just get him out of here, please." Steph asked.

Bobby walked into the waiting room to let everyone know that Ranger was going to surgery in a few minutes. When Steph saw Bobby, she started crying again.

"Bobby, how is he?" She asked with a shaky voice.

Bobby could tell Steph was worried; hell, they were all worried. He hated being the barer of bad news, but he felt it was better that she know the truth.

"He's not good. _**If**_…and that's a big if, he survives the surgery, there's no guarantee he'll live. I'm going to be honest, it's bad, Steph.

He was hit four times. The doctors believe that at least two of the bullets hit major organs. The doctor won't know for sure the extent of the damage until they get him into surgery.

A specialist should be here any minute. We're waiting for him to get here."

"Are you going to be in there with him?" Steph asked.

"Yes, I am." Bobby said.

"You'll take care of him, won't you?" Steph asked.

"You bet I will, Angel." Bobby leaned forward and kissed the top of her head.

"Can I see him?" Steph asked.

"The nurses are prepping him for surgery, right now. When they get through, I'll see if there's time for you to step in for a few minutes before he goes to surgery, ok?" Bobby offered.

"Thank you." Steph said, wrapping her arms around Bobby waist.

"Bombshell, I'm going to walk down to the cafeteria to get some coffee, you want to come?" Hal asked.

"No, I don't want to miss my chance in case I get to see Ranger." Steph said.

"Can we get you something?" Ren asked. "Some coffee? A sandwich?"

"No, I'm fine." Steph muttered.

Everyone knew she wasn't fine, but no one was going to push the issue.

Ren passed by Steph, giving her shoulder a gentle squeeze, while Hal stopped to kiss her forehead. Steph gave the two men a watery smile, letting them know she'd be ok. The two men gave her a slight nod before walking out of the waiting room.

Hmm…Steph thought. Did she just do the ESP thing?

"Steph, it may be a while, why don't we sit?" Tank suggested. "Come on, Honey, I'll sit with you."

"Actually, I'd like to stand out in the hall. I don't want to be too far away in case they let me see him." She looked sadly at Tank.

"Beautiful, are you going to stand out in the hall, in defiantly? It could be a while and you look dead on your feet." Lester said.

"Santos!" Tank scolded.

"Sorry, Steph. Poor choice of words. I just meant you look tired." Lester corrected his mistake.

"It's ok, Les, I knew what you meant." Steph said. "I am tired. I haven't been sleeping well, lately. But I really would like to wait outside Ranger's door."

"Come on, I'll wait with you." Tank said.

Steph paced back and forth in front of Ranger's door. A few times Tank tried to calm her, but she shrugged him off and continued pacing.

"I can't take this waiting. What the hell is taking so long? I thought they had to get him to surgery." Steph complained.

"I'm sure he's being taken care of, Steph. Bobby will do all that he can to make sure you get to see him."

"Tank, I just keep thinking about the argument we had. I don't know if I can live with some of the things I said to him if he…"

"Don't even think like that, Steph. He is not going to die and the two of you are going to get the chance to make up for everything you've done or said to one another. Do you hear me? I will not let you think otherwise."

Bobby stepped out into the hall. "Steph, the nurses are through prepping him. The surgeon isn't here, yet. You have about ten minutes before he's brought to pre-op."

"Thank you, Bobby. Can Tank come in with me? I'm…I… don't know if I can do this by myself." Steph admitted.

"It took an act of Congress for me to get the staff to agree to let you see him. I doubt they're going to let anyone else in the room. I'll go with you, if you want."

"Thanks, Bobby." Steph said.

"Steph, I need to tell you a few things before you go in there. He doesn't look like Ranger. He has a lot of blood all over his body, they've cleaned him up, but he's still bleeding a lot. He's on a machine to keep him breathing. That means there's a tube down his throat.

He hit his head when he fell. He has bruises and cuts. Are you sure you're prepared for this?" Bobby asked.

"I have to be, Bobby. Even if he can't hear me, I have to tell him I'm sorry. If he doesn't come out that surgery room alive, I don't think I can live wit myself."

"Steph, Ranger is going to make it through that surgery and he's going to live past this. I'm going to make sure that everything possible is done to insure he does."

Steph gasped when she walked in Ranger's room. Nothing Bobby said prepared her for how bad it actually was. Ranger was laying motionless on a gurney. He looked like hell. Bobby wasn't lying when he said Ranger had blood all over him.

There was so much blood everywhere, all over the bed and floor. The nurses had cut his clothes off. They were lying in a pile on the floor, drenched in blood. It was hard to believe there was any blood left in him; there was so much on the outside.

He had a huge knot on the side of his head where he hit it when he went down. Both his eyes were black.

Steph walked over to the bed where Ranger lay. She stood just looking at him for the longest before she reached out, without thinking, to touch him. She quickly jerked her hand back.

"Is it ok to touch him?" She meekly asked.

Bobby came to her side and gave her a gentle squeeze. "I think it would be ok."

Steph picked up Ranger's hand. She wiped the tears from her eyes, cleared her throat and began to speak.

"Umm…hey, it's me. I hope you don't mind that I'm here. I know I wasn't very nice to you the last time we saw each other. I'm real sorry about the way I talked to you. I was angry and hurt, but that's no excuse for my actions. Ranger, you need to go into that surgery room and let the doctors do what they need to do to fix you, you hear me. You see…I love you. I know…it sounds funny saying it aloud. I guess I've always been afraid to say it, because I didn't think you felt the same way. I 'm still not sure you love me, but one of us has to make the first move, right?"

Steph couldn't hold back the tears anymore. Tears were streaming down her face. She lifted Ranger's hand to her lips and kissed the back of his hand. "Don't you dare leave me! You hear me?"

All of a sudden, a machine started beeping. Ranger's door swung open and nurses rushed into the room. One of the nurses pushed Steph out of the way.

"Code blue in the trauma room. We need help in here STAT." One the nurses pushed a button on the side of Ranger's bed and spoke.

She must've been the nurse in charge. She was spitting out orders to the others in the room.

"What's happening?" Steph screamed. "Someone please tell me what's happening." When no one answered her, she turned to Bobby. "Bobby, what's happening?"

The beeping changed to a solid tone. Steph looked over to the heart monitor. It was a flat line. Steph wasn't too smart when it came to medical things, but she knew what that meant.

At that moment, the doctor came into the room. Bobby had started CPR. A nurse stuck a syringe into Ranger's IV, injecting him with some kind of medicine. The doctor ordered to stop CPR. The nurse stopped and checked his pulse. "No pulse." The nurse reported.

The doctor grabbed the defibrillator and put the paddles to Ranger's chest. His body jumped as the electrical volts went through his body.

"No pulse." The nurse reported again.

All this time, Steph stood back and watched as the man she loved more than her own self was dying. "Ranger! Ranger…don't you fucking do this to me. Don't you fucking give up like this. Ranger!" She screamed. "Damn you…fucking live." She kept yelling at him to not to die.

In all the excitement, no one had noticed Steph was still in the room. One of the nurses turned to her. "Ma'am, I'm sorry. You're going to have to step out of the room."

"I'm not leaving." Steph insisted.

"We can't do our job, if we'd worried about you being in here." The nurse flatly stated.

"Don't worry about me. You just make sure you take care of him. I love him. He has to live. Now you're wasting time. Get the fuck back over there and take care of Ranger."

Bobby motioned for the nurse to take over compressions. As she took over, Bobby discretely picked up a syringe and walked toward Steph.

"Bobby, what are you doing? Get back over there. Ranger needs you."

"Come on Steph. Let's wait outside until Ranger is back in stable condition."

"Bobby, I don't want to leave him. He can't die. I have to remind him he needs to live."

"It'll be ok, Angel. I promise to come get you as soon as he's stable again."

"No, Bobby. I'm not leaving until I hear his heart beat again." Steph insisted.

Steph felt a slight prick on her arm before she began to feel dizzy.

_**tbc**_


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't…She does…I'm not…and never will...

Consider yourself warned:

***BIG ASS TISSUE WARNING***

WHERE'S YOUR BALLS

CHAPTER 6

_Steph woke with her feeling fuzzy and a splitting headache. She slowly opened her eyes, trying to remember what happened and where she was. Nothing around her looked familiar._

_Looking around, realizing she was in a hospital room, it came back to her. Ranger was shot. His heart quit beating and Bobby stuck her with a needle. Oh is he going to be in trouble when she got her hands on him._

_The Merry Men must've put her in this room until she regained consciousness. If Ranger was out of surgery already and she wasn't with him because Bobby drugged her, she wasn't going to be responsible for his fate. She wasn't even sure how long she had been asleep._

_Steph slowly brought her body to the edge of the bed and sat there for a few minutes, trying to get her bearings straight._

_When she felt like she was ready, she stood. Hmm…not too bad. She was barely shaky. She made her way out of the room and started walking down the corridor of the hospital. About half way to the elevator, she ran into Tank, Bobby and Lester. Lester had a bouquet of flowers in his hand._

"_Hey, you three. How's Ranger? Is he out of surgery yet? How long have I been sleeping, anyway?" She never even stop to take a breath. _

"_Beautiful, you don't remember anything?" Lester asked._

"_What are you talking about, Lester? I was in the room and Ranger's heart stopped. Then Bobby drugged me. By the way…you are in big trouble for that…as soon as I make sure Ranger is ok." Steph warned._

"_Come on, Bomber; let's go back to your room." Tank put his arm around her._

"_**No**__, I want to go see Ranger. Is he out of surgery, yet?" Steph insisted._

"_Bombshell, I think we should go back to your room." Tank repeated._

"Ok, you guys are starting to freak me out; what's going on, Tank_? Why won't you let me see Ranger? Is he out of surgery or not?" She demanded._

"_We'll talk when we get back to your room." Bobby told her._

"_Hey, are those for me?" She asked pointing at the flowers in Lester's hand._

"_Yes…as a matter of fact, they are." Lester smiled at her._

"_Gee, thanks, but you shouldn't have. It's not like I was hurt, I was just sedated." Steph smiled taking the flowers from him. "Shouldn't one of you be waiting with Ranger? Who's guarding his room?"_

_The three of them guided Steph back to her room. Once she was back in her bed, Bobby started asking questions._

"_Angel, exactly how much do you remember?" He questioned._

"_Well, I was standing in Ranger's room. One of the monitors started beeping and then his heart stopped. You drugged me and I woke up in this room. By the way, we will talk about this after I check on Ranger. He's not going to be happy that you drugged me. If you quit stalling and take me to him, RIGHT NOW, I'll take up for you. I promise not to let him send you to Siberia with nothing but your underwear." She explained. "How long have I been sleeping, anyway?"_

"_Steph, we're not sure how to tell you this. Umm…you don't remember anything else?" Tank asked._

"_NO! What the fuck are you not telling me?" Steph demanded._

"_Steph, you've been out for a while." Lester informed her._

_Tears started streaming down Steph's face. She needed to be there telling Ranger she loved him and that he needed to live._

"_How long, a while? How could you not wake me? Ranger needed me. I had to explain to him why he had to live. I should've been there with him." She cried._

"_Angel, Ranger…I'm sorry, Honey. I didn't think you wouldn't remember. Ranger died. He never made it into surgery." Bobby explained. _

"_No!" Steph screamed, balling her body tight into a ball. "Why are you doing this to me? Did he tell you to tell me he was dead? That's it, isn't it…he doesn't want anything to do with me so he sent you to tell me he's dead. _

_I won't ever bother him again. I promise. No one will ever know I know he's alive. Just please tell me the truth. Don't let me go on believing he's dead." Steph pleaded._

"_Beautiful, I wish it were true, but Ranger died. I'm sorry." Lester tried to comfort her._

"_No…it can't be. I needed to tell him I loved him. He's never going to know how much I loved him. He died thinking I hated him. How am I going to live with him never knowing?" She sobbed._

_Tank crawled in the bed on one side of her and Lester sat on the other side of her. Bobby sat at the end of the bed._

"_Shhh, Bomber. It's going to be ok. We're here for you. I promise. Besides Ranger would kick our asses when we get to wherever he is, if we didn't." Tank tried to lighten the tension in the room._

"_When is the funeral?" Steph asked. "I have to get out of here. I should meet his family. I feel like I need to say something to them." _

"_Angel, we buried Ranger two weeks ago. You've been out for three weeks. I'm sorry."_

"_How could you bury him without me?" Steph was devastated._

"_Steph, we thought you'd remember. You woke up shortly after Ranger died. Tank and I were there. We told you Ranger died. You were a mess. I had to sedate you again. _

_You were screaming and crying. Nothing would calm you down. This went on for about two hours. I couldn't let you go on that way. It wasn't good for you physically or mentally. I finally had to sedate you again. You've been out of it every since." Bobby explained._

_We've all taken turns coming to see you every day. Day after day…you were still the same. We couldn't wait any longer to bury him. His family couldn't wait. They needed to bury him so they could grieve and try to get back to normal._

_We waited as long as we could. When you didn't wake up, we had the funeral." Bobby told her._

"_I can't believe. He's gone. What am I going to do? I needed him." The tears flowed down her face. "Oh God, Ranger…how could you do this to me? What the fuck am I supposed to do without you? Damn you! I fucking love you. This wasn't supposed to happen. Damn you Ranger! You weren't supposed to fucking die." Steph's body shook as she sobbed._

_Tank pulled her into his arms. There was nothing any of them could do to ease her pain…and they knew it was true. At least they'd be there to help the best they could._

"_I'd like to go to the grave yard. Would you take me?" She looked up at her three friends._

"_Sure we will, Beautiful. As soon as you're strong enough." Lester kissed the top of her head._

"_I can't believe he's gone. He'll never know I loved him. You think if I tell him now, he'll hear me?" Steph sniffed._

"_I think he will, Angel." Bobby rubbed her leg._

"_Could you guys give me a few minutes? I need to be alone for a little bit." Steph asked._

"_We'll go let the nurse know you're away and see what we can do to springing you out of this place." Tank told her._

_Each one of them took a turn kissing the top of her head before leaving the room._

_There was so much Steph wanted to say to Ranger. All the things she should've said while he was still alive oh God…still alive, she still couldn't believe he was gone. As she sat there all the things she wanted to say to him ran thru her mind. She had to go to his grave. She had to talk to him. She had to tell him everything she should've said to him while he was still alive. She felt, somehow, he might actually hear her if she was knelling at his grave._

_Steph's doctor decided she needed to say one more day just so he could run a few more tests and make sure everything was ok. He brought in a social worker in case she wanted to talk. Of course...she insisted she was fine and didn't need a 'shrink' as she called her. _

_One more day turned into three more days and three more days turned into a week. It seemed as if the doctor came up with a new excuse every day why she couldn't go home. Like clockwork...everyday, the shrink would show up to visit. Stpeh was starting to get a little annoyed. She threatened to leave whether the doctor let her or not._

_Just as promised, Tank, Lester and Bobby came to see her everyday. When the day came that she was ready to leave the hospital they were there then also._

_"Come on, Beautiful, you ready to blow this Popsicle stand?" Lester asked entering her room with a wheelchair._

"_Lester, I don't know where I'm going. I can't go to Rangeman…don't think I'm ready. I don't want to go to my apartment. I don't know what to do." Steph sadly admitted._

"_We'll figure something out, Beautiful." Lester smiled at her._

"_You ready, Angel?" Bobby asked as he and Tank walked in the room._

_Tank, Lester and Bobby loaded Steph into the passenger side of one of the Rangeman SUVs. Lester and Bobby climbed in the back seat and Tank took the driver's seat and pulled out of the hospital parking lot._

"_Where to, Bombshell?" Tank asked from the driver's seat._

"_The cemetery." She quickly and quietly answered._

"_Are you sure you're ready for that, Steph? What if you get some rest tonight and we take you tomorrow." Tank suggested. _

"_Not sure if I'm ready. Don't know if I'll ever be ready__, but I need to feel close to him. I have so much to say to him. Things I wished I had said while he was still alive." She sadly admitted._

"_If you're sure that's what you want, we'll take you." Tank reached over and gave her hand a gentle squeeze._

"_I have this theory. If I talk to him at his grave, maybe he'll hear me. I know it sounds dumb, but it'll make me feel like I'm really talking to him. Crazy, huh?"_

"_Doesn't sound crazy at all. I feel the same way sometimes." Tank smiled at her._

_Tank pulled over on the side of the narrow gravel road near the place his friend was laid to rest. He, Lester and Bobby walked Steph to the gravesite. _

"_Do you want us to stay with you, Angel?" Bobby asked._

"_No, if you don't mind, I'd like some time alone with him." She answered._

_The three men turned and walked back to the SUV. They stood outside the truck watching her say good bye._

_Steph knelt beside the grave, bushing the golden leaves that had fallen from the tree that loomed over Ranger's grave._

"_Hey you, you were never one for following directions, were you? I told you not to die. I told you I needed you. What am I going to do without you? I should be mad at you, but I've spent so much time being angry and look where it's gotten me. Damn you! This is so not how it was supposed to happen." Steph yelled at the concrete slab. _

_"This is not the way it was supposed to happen." She sobbed. Steph closed her eyes, looking up to heaven, she let the tears fall._

_"Oh, Ranger, there's so much I wanted to say to you." She began to speak after taking some time to compose herself. "So much time we…I wasted trying to pretend I didn't love you. Now it's too late. __If you can hear me…and even if you can't I'm going to pretend you can. I've loved you for so long. Even if I didn't realize it, you had my heart from the first time you kissed me. _

_Do you remember? I was pitching the fit of all fits. I was so angry with you. You grabbed me, without warning pulled me to you, and kissed the ever-living daylights out of me." Steph sniffed. "I was speechless. That was another mild stone in my life. You were the first man ever to leave me speechless._

_Then you turned and walked away with that damn goofy smirk on your face. Yeah, you were too damn proud of what you had done." Steph stopped talking she laid her hand flat on Ranger's grave. Somehow, it seemed like she was closer to him if she was touching his resting place._

_She wiped the tears from her eyes and continued. "Oh God, Ranger, what am I going to do without you? Who's going to say, 'Proud of you, Babe' when I do something amazing? Who's going to make me get up when I'm down and can't find my way?_

_Who am I supposed to give all this love to, Ranger? I have so much love to give and it just doesn't seem right to give your love to someone else._

_I am so sorry I didn't tell you before it was too late. If only I hadn't been so stubborn…if only I would've let you talk that night at the garage. Would you be here today, My Love? Would you have taken a chance, if you'd known you had someone to live for…someone to love you?"_

_Tears were spilling down her face. She was saying good-bye to her one true love._

"_I'll live the rest of my life loving you, Ranger and hopefully where ever you are, you'll be waiting for me. I won't blame you if you're not, but it doesn't hurt to hope."_

_She leaned over and kissed his grave. "Good bye, my love." She whispered, before rising to her feet to walk away from him for the last time._

_The three men saw Steph walking back to the truck. They started slowly walking toward her, giving her a little extra time to regain her composure._

_She was crying uncontrollably. Her whole body was trembling. She started to wobble. Bobby was about three steps from her when she clasped to the ground._

"_Steph, can you hear me? Steph open your eyes for me." _

_**tbc**_

_**A/N: **_Don't hate me and do not throw anything at your computer thinking that it will hit me, 'cause it won't. This chapter will make more sense after next chapter. Let me know what you think. No death threats, please. Just remember...if I die, the rest of the story doesn't get posted.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: As you can plainly see…I still don't…She still does…and I never will…

Chapter 7

_She leaned over and kissed his grave. "Good bye, my love." She whispered, before rising to her feet to walk away from him for the last time._

_The three men saw Steph walking back to the truck. They started slowly walking toward her, giving her a little extra time to regain her composure._

_She was crying uncontrollably. Her whole body was shaking. She started to wobble. Bobby was about three steps from her when she clasped to the ground._

"_Steph, can you hear me? Steph open your eyes for me." _

Tank and Lester heard the screams coming from the Steph's room.

"Nooooo. " Steph screamed. There was terror in her scream. "This can't be happening."

Tank and Lester rushed into the room. Steph was twisting and fighting in the bed, crying out in her sleep.

"Steph, can you hear me? Open your eyes for me." Tank instructed her.

"Shhh…Beautiful. It's ok, we're here." Lester tried to sooth her.

Steph shot straight up in the bed. She was briefly confused. Why was she back in this room? She remembered Tank, Lester and Bobby checking her out of the hospital.

She had tears streaming down her face. It was all coming back to her. She went to Ranger's grave to say good-bye to him.

Tank and Lester were talking to her, but she wouldn't answer them. She sat staring off into space, rocking back and forth. Tears were streaming down her face.

After several minutes, she laid back down. Balling herself into fetal position, hugging the covers to her. Tears still spilling down her face.

She was still rocking herself, muttering words unrecognizable to the two men standing near her bed.

Tank and Lester stared at each other, wondering if one of them should go get someone. Tank nodded at Lester and he turned to walk out of the room.

Bobby was just outside Steph's door. He was walking in as Lester was walking out of the room.

"Hey, is she awake yet?" Bobby asked.

"Tank and I were on our way to check on her. We could hear her screaming from out here. When we walked in her room, she was kicking and twisting." Lester explained. "Then she sat straight up, but wouldn't answer us when we talked to her. She was rocking back and forth, steadily crying.

After a few minutes, she laid down. Her eyes are open, but she won't respond to us. She has the covers scrunched up…hugging them to her.

She keeps muttering, but nothing understandable. Man, I don't know what's wrong. I was on my way to see if you were out of surgery or find a nurse or something."

"Sounds like she's in shock." Bobby told Lester. "I'll see what I can do. Ranger is starting to come out of the anesthesia and he's fighting everyone. He's calling for Steph. The doctor is afraid Ranger is going to undo everything he fixed in surgery if he doesn't calm down. I was hoping Steph could calm him down."

"I don't know." Lester said. "I've never seen her like this."

The two men walked in Steph's room to find her still in fetal position, clutching her blanket and crying."

"Bobby, what's wrong with her? She won't answer me. She just lays here rocking and crying." Tank said.

"I'm thinking she's in shock. I need her to snap out this. Ranger is starting to come out from under the anesthesia and he's going to rip all his stitches if he doesn't calm down. We need Steph's help. I have a feeling she is the only one that can calm him."

At Bobby's words, Steph shot up to a sitting position. "Why are you doing this to me?" She hissed.

"Doing what, Angel? Look at me. It's me, Bobby. Tell me what's happening to you." Bobby talked in a low soothing voice.

"You just said Ranger needs me. Why are you talking as if I don't know? How could you pretend he's still here? You fucking ass hole." Steph was screaming at Bobby. "You're supposed to be my friend. Why are you putting me through this?"

"What are you talking about, Bomber?" Tank asked. "What are we doing to you?"

"You know. How could you be so cruel? You watched me fall apart at his grave." She sobbed. "How could you do this to me?"

"Whose grave, Beautiful?" Lester asked.

"Ranger's you dumb ass." She muttered. "You guys checked me out of the hospital and took me to his grave."

"Angel, you haven't left this hospital. Ranger isn't dead. He's in recovery. He's just coming out of surgery." Bobby explained.

"He's not dead?" Steph asked with amazement.

"No, Honey. He's very much alive. But, he won't be if he doesn't calm down. The doctor is afraid Ranger is going to bust his stitches if he doesn't calm down. That's why I was coming to see if you were awake. I think if you talk to him, he'd calm down."

"You're telling me the truth. He's really alive?" Steph was afraid to hope she wasn't dreaming. "How long have I been asleep?"

"About three hours." Tank answered. "Steph, why did you think Ranger was dead?"

"Three hours…not three weeks?" She questioned.

"No, Angel. You've only been sleeping for about three hours. I'm sorry I had to sedate you, but you were out of control. I didn't know what else to do."

"I woke up and…oh my God, I must've been dreaming. It was so real, though. I had been out of it for three weeks. The three of you checked me out of the hospital and brought me to Ranger's grave. I went to say good…" She sobbed.

"Good bye….I went to say good bye to him. I fainted at the graveyard. Then I woke up back here. This is the same room." She told them about what she remembered so vividly.

"Steph, it was just a dream. You've been right here since Bobby sedated you, three hours ago…not three weeks. Ranger is not dead. He's in the recovery room. I need you to pull yourself together. He's really giving them a hard time. He's not completely awake yet, but he's fighting the nurses. He's been calling for you.

I think it's a reaction to the anesthesia. It sometimes makes people violent. He needs you, Steph. I know he'll listen to you."

"He's really alive? You're not playing a cruel joke on me? Please tell me you're not lying to me." She pleaded.

"Angel, we're not lying to you. Ranger didn't die. He's right here in the hospital and he needs you." Bobby assured her.

"He needs me?" Steph hopefully questioned.

"Yeah, Bomber, he does." Lester assured her.

**A/N:** First, I'd like to apologize for such a short chapter. I intended for it to be a little longer, but RL has really been kicking me in the ass lately and I felt like I at least owed yaw somethig. I guess even short is better than nothing.

As many of you know, my mom has been ill. On Nov. 2nd (just 2 months after being diagnosed), my mom lost the battle against brain cancer. I'm trying really hard to get my life back to normal (well…as normal as can be expected considering this is me we're talking about). So…I ask that you be patient w/me.

I have 4 more chapters after this one left to post. I can't promise any set schedule, but I do promise to get them posted as quickly as RL allows me to.

Thanks to everyone who's been so patient and hanging in there. To those who've reviewed, I'm not ignoring you. I just haven't had to the time to reply. I will though…I promise.


	8. Chapter 8

You know how it goes unfortunately…I don't…She does...I never will…

CHAPTER 8

Steph could hardly believe what she was hearing. If what the Merry Men were telling her was actually the truth, it was all a dream. Just a dream. But, it felt so real.

Steph's smile faded to a frown when a thought suddenly crossed her mind. 'Oh God, what if I'm dreaming right now? What if this isn't the truth? What if I'm dreaming…I was dreaming?'

"Angel, you are wide awake and you're not dreaming. Ranger is alive and yes, he needs you." Bobby assured her.

"How did you know what I was thinking?" Steph asked. "If I'm awake and not dreaming, how did you know? If I'm dreaming than it makes sense. Anything can happen in dreams. You could read my mind in a dream. Hell…you could even control my mind in a dream." Steph was rambling like a mad woman.

"Bomber, calm down. You were talking out loud." Tank laughed. "We could hear every word you were saying."

"Oh. Sorry." She mumbled.

"Steph we really need to get you upstairs. Ranger needs you." Bobby reminded her.

"He was asking for me? Me specifically?" Steph questioned. "Are you sure?"

She was having a hard time believing that he would call for her after the way things had been between them the last few weeks…after the horrible things she said to him in the parking garage that night…after avoiding him for the past few weeks. She wouldn't blame him if he never talked to her again.

What if she hurt him as much as he had hurt her? She didn't wish that feeling on anyone, not even her worst enemy, much less anyone she cared for.

She had no earthly idea where all those hurtful words came from. Sure, she'd kept them bottled up inside her since 'that night', but she never thought she'd ever say them aloud. She had no control over what she was saying…she opened her mouth and out flew all the emotions and pent up anger she had been feeling.

"Steph, whether you want to believe it or not, Ranger loves you. He's been miserable these last few weeks." Tank told her.

"Then why hasn't he called me or tried to talk to me. He saw me at the bond office a couple of weeks ago. He didn't even say hello." Steph asked.

"Beautiful, he wanted to talk to you, but the minute he walked in the door, you shot out of there like a bat out of hell. He didn't know what to do." Lester explained.

"Since when does Ranger just not take what he wants?" Steph asked.

"That's just it, Steph. He doesn't want to force you. He wants you to choose him, because it's what _**you**_ want." Tank said.

Tank walked over to Steph. "He wants you to choose him." He said, using his first two fingers under her chin, forcing to look him in the eyes.

Tank gave her an assuring nod in answer to the look of doubt in her eyes.

"But, I did choose him but, he didn't choose me." Steph sniffed.

"He was scared, Steph. Ranger doesn't deal well with weakness." Bobby said.

"I make him weak?" Steph asked…a little confused at Bobby's statement. "No wonder he doesn't want me. No man wants a woman that makes him weak."

"You don't make him weak, Honey. He feels weak because he has no control over how much he loves you.

He tried ignoring it and when that didn't work, he tried pushing you away. That didn't work either. No matter what he did, you were in his heart." Tank told her.

"I felt so horrible after 'that night.' I thought I had done something wrong or I wasn't good enough for him.

I wasn't enough for Joe or Dickie. They both cheated on me. Then Ranger sent me back to Joe. I felt like such a failure. I don't know why I thought I'd ever be good enough for him. When he started avoiding me…it made me feel even worse."

"Beautiful, you're not a failure as a woman." Lester said. "You know how I know?"

"No…how do you know?" Steph shook her head.

"Because he didn't brag about sleeping with you."

"That makes me feel a whole lot better. I wasn't even worth bragging about, thanks." Steph whined.

"No, Bomber, that's just our point. Ranger bragged about practically every woman he'd fucked. About how easy she was…how he could make her do whatever he wanted." Tank tried to explain.

"Ok…I'm still missing the point here." Steph said.

"With you it was special. He was going to belittle what the two of you shared by bragging. If it had just been a little afternoon delight to get his dick wet…we would've known about it before the sheets were changed." Bobby continued where Tank left off.

"He was scared. In his mind, he wasn't right for you. He's done some not so right things in his lifetime. He was afraid either it would come back to bite him in the ass and at your expense…or you'd find out some of the things he'd done and change your mind about wanting to be with him. It would kill him for you to look at him and be disgusted.

I know it doesn't justify what he did, but…believe it or not, he thought he was doing what was best for you.

In his eyes, he loved you enough to let you go." Lester pulled Steph to him, hugging her tightly.

"He could've told me…or tried to explain…or something." Steph said.

"Bomber, if Ranger would've told you the real reason, would you've let it go?" Tank asked.

"Probably not." Steph admitted. Had she really believed Ranger loved her, she would've never let him walk away from her.

"Thanks, Guys. You've cleared a lot up, but I'd really like to go to Ranger. Can I see him, now?" She asked.

"Yeah, I think that would probably be a good idea. Even in his sleep, he's giving everyone a hard time." Bobby laughed.

"Yeah, even unconscious, Ranger has to be a jack ass." Tank commented.

Bobby stopped Steph just outside the recovery room door. He wanted to explain what she was going to be facing. If she thought what she saw before he went into surgery was bad, she was really going to freak now.

Bandages covered Ranger's incisions; thank God, she couldn't see what was under those bandages. He was still connected to the heart monitors. The doctor wrote orders to disconnect the oxygen flow to the respirator to see if Ranger would breathe on his own. He had an IV in both hands and a blood transfusion going in one of his arms. In spite of his naturally dark skin tone…he was very pale.

When Steph walked in the room, Ranger was thrashing around his bed. There was a young nurse, who resembled Steph, to a certain extent, standing next to Ranger, holding his hand. She was just a few inches taller and maybe a few pounds heavier, but she had long, wavy, dark brown hair. It wasn't as wild as Steph, but the same length and color.

A ping of jealousy shot thru Steph's heart. There was another woman holding his hand…comforting him. It wouldn't have been so bad if she hadn't been so young…and fucking gorgeous.

"Babe. Babe. Babe." Ranger muttered, repeatedly.

"I'm right here, Mr. Manoso. You're going to be fine." The nurse tried to sooth him. "I'm right here. I'm going to take care of you."

"He's calling for me." Steph snapped.

"I'm sorry, Miss. No one is allowed in here. I'll need you to wait outside until he's stabilized and moved to a room." She snapped.

"I'm Stephanie, aka Babe." Steph snarled. "I have special permission to see him." Steph said. "The doctor thinks it may help to calm him down."

"I wasn't told about any visitors. I'll have to check with the doctor. If you could please wait outside, I'll verify that you are allowed to visit with him." The nurse sneered. "I doubt it, but I'll check just to get you out of here so I can take care of 'my' patient."

"Babe." Ranger muttered, reaching in the direction of Steph's voice.

"I'm right here, Ranger." She called to him as the nurse tried to push her out the door.

Bobby stepped in from the hall just in time to see the nurse pushing Steph. Ranger was still thrashing around in the bed, mumbling. He was not happy that Steph was not at Ranger's side.

"What is going on in here?" Bobby demanded. "I told you Steph would be coming in to see Ranger. What the fuck is wrong with you?"

"I had him calmed down; until _**she**_ came in…then he became agitated again. I didn't realize this is who you were talking about, Mr. Brown." The nurse said trying to explain herself out of the situation.

The nurse had over heard two other nurses talking about Steph. The gossipmongers went on and on about how they heard she was supposed to be engaged to Joe, but was here professing love to Ranger. That she ran back and forth between the two of them, playing them both. It was shameful, the young woman thought. She was just protecting her patient. Yes, Sir she was protecting Ranger from the evil little twit.

With the nurse finally out of Range's room, Steph sat down next to him. She picked up his hand and pressed it to her lips. It all seemed more real that he actually was alive.

Silent tears streamed down her face as she watched Ranger lying in the hospital bed. She said a prayer of thanks to the man above for bringing him back to her.

When Ranger started moving around in the bed, she spoke softly to him.

"You know I love you." She whispered. "I don't know what I would've done without you. These doctors put in a lot effort into bringing you back to me. You need to calm down before you mess up all that hard work.

I need you to get well. We have so much to talk about and a whole life ahead of us. Yeah, you heard me. I'm not going to let you walk away from me again.

Your secret is out; you've been busted, Mister. You see…your friends are my friends also. They care about both of us and just want us to be happy. They ratted on you. See…I know you love."

As Steph spoke to Ranger, he began to calm down and rest better. She sat with him until the doctor, followed by a different nurse and Bobby, in to see how he was doing.

"I'm Dr. Rasawski. I was with Mr. Manoso during his surgery and I will be following his progress." He offered his hand to Steph.

"I'm Stephanie Plum. I'm Mr. Manoso's…umm…I'm a friend." Steph looked to Bobby for help explaining things to the doctor. She wasn't sure how to explain her relationship with Ranger.

"He knows you're important to the boss, Angel." Bobby said.

"Yes, I'm well aware of who you are, Ms. Plum." The doctor smiled at her. "I've been well informed of your importance to Mr. Manoso. I can see for myself what affect you have on him. He seems to be doing a lot better now that you are with him." He said.

"Please call me Steph. How is he doing?" Steph asked.

"He's not out of the woods, yet. There was more damage than I anticipated, but I think we were successful in repairing all the damage.

We'll monitor his progress over the next few days. We should more in the next 72 hours.

We're going to keep him in a drug-induced coma for at least three days, to give his body time to start to heal. Then we'll start slowly bringing him out of the coma and go from there." Dr. Rasawski explained. "The next few days are going to be the toughest and the most important for him.

From seeing how he was doing before you got here and how he's doing now, it would probably be best if you came to see him as often as possible."

"But, does he even know I'm here? I mean if he's in a coma?" Steph questioned.

"It's been proven that even in a coma a patient is aware of certain things that go on around them. They've even repeated conversation that they heard while in the coma. I think he'll know you're there."

"How long before he's moved to a room?" Steph asked.

"He'll be going to ICU first, for at least 24 hours. Then we'll decide if he's ready to go to a private room." The doctor explained.

"For security reasons, Ranger will be in a special IC Unit." Bobby said.

"Yes, he'll be in a private wing of the hospital." The doctor added.

"How long before he gets to his room?" Steph repeated.

"I would say at least two hours if not a little longer." Dr. Rasawski said.

"Bobby, you think I could get a ride to my apartment?" Steph asked.

"I'm sure one of us can take you. What's up at your apartment?" Bobby asked.

"I need to get some close and some of my personal items." She said. "…and, Dr. Rasawski, I urge you to let the staff know that I will be staying with Ranger. Make sure they understand that I am not to be asked to leave the room…that whatever needs to be done can be done in my presence. Oh, and one more thing. The nurse that was in here with Ranger when I got here…I'm assuming I can feel confident that she will not be assigned to him again."

The doctor looked to Bobby for an answer. He was a well-known surgeon…highly respected. Never had he been told what to do…especially buy a female.

"Ms. Plum will be staying with Mr. Manoso and you will see to it that the nurse in question won't be caring for Mr. Manoso again. I think his contributions to this hospital have earned him some privileges, don't you?" Bobby raised his bow at the doctor.

"I'll make the arrangements." He replied as he turned to walk out the door, shaking his head.

"Thanks Bobby." Steph walked over and put her arms around him.

"Anything for you, Angel. Besides, I honestly believe that Ranger will heal quicker if you're here." He hugged her back.


	9. Chapter 9

I don't…She does…I'm not…

WHERE'S YOUR BALLS

CHAPTER 9

Tank drove Steph to her apartment to collect some things. After she packed a few things, he drove her to the bonds office so that she could talk to Vinnie.

"Hey Connie, Lula." Steph greeted the two women. "Is Vinnie in, I need to see him."

"Nope. He run outa here like his ass wuz on fire, bout thirty minutes go." Lula said.

"Let him know, I'll be taking at least the next week off work." Steph hoped the two would let it ride. Ha! Like that was going to happen.

"Are you going somewhere, Steph?" Connie asked.

"Yeah…you running off with sum secret man?" Lula asked. "Don't be holdin out on us, White Girl."

"You know Vinnie's not going to be happy about this?" Connie asked. "But who really gives a fuck?"

"No, I'm going to be staying at the hospital. With…Ranger." She hesitantly added.

"What yo talken bout?" Lula questioned.

"Ranger was shot last night trying to pick up a skip. It's bad. His heart stopped twice before they brought him into surgery.

He made it out of surgery, but he's not doing too good. The doctor thinks it would make him heal quicker if he's surrounded by his friends…so I'm staying with him until he wakes from a drug induced coma."

"Batman's on drugs?" Lula asked.

"No, a drug induced coma means that the doctor is keeping him in a coma using drugs…so his body can heal without him trying to get out of bed or ripping his stitches."

"I've saw that on one of those doctor talk shows one time. They give the patient high doses of medicine and it keeps them unconscious." Connie commented.

"How long they be keeping Batman asleep?" Lula asked.

"Three days and then the doctor is going to slowly start cutting back one the meds. They want him to come out of the coma slowly.

Anyway, he was just coming out of surgery and he was real agitated...fighting the nurses. The doctor let me in to see him and it helped to calm him, so he thinks it might be best if I stayed with him." Steph explained.

"I didn't think you were even talking to Ranger." Connie said. "After you two ran into each other here two weeks ago, you couldn't get out of here fast enough. Ranger didn't even try to stop you. I thought you two were on the outs for good."

"We had a misunderstanding. And, we will talk about it when he is well. But, for now what's best for Ranger is my only concern." Steph said. "So will you tell Vinnie for me? He can call my cell if he needs to talk to me."

"I ain't telling' Vinnie nuttin. He'll be spitting nails and pissin vinegar that you ain't going to be working." Lula said.

"Just tell him to call me. I'll tell him. If he doesn't like it, I'll send one of Ranger's men over here to explain things." Steph huffed.

When Steph and Tank arrived back at the hospital, Steph went straight to the recovery room. Ranger wasn't there.

Panic struck when he was not there. "Where is Mr. Manoso?" She asked a nurse that was cleaning up the room.

"I'm not sure. I just came on duty. You can check at the desk. The nurse there should be able to tell you." She answered.

Steph quickly made her way to the nurse's station. "Where is Mr. Manoso?" She asked.

"Calm down, Ms. Plum. They transferred him to his room just a few minutes ago. Give me a second to finish up with this chart and I'll take you to him." She answered. "He's fine, I promise."

The nurse made small talk with Steph on the way to Ranger's room, looking back to smile at Tank occasionally. When they got to Ranger's room, the nurse told Steph that even though she wasn't the nurse on this floor, if Steph needed anything she could call her. Then she turned to head back to her own floor.

"I think she likes you, Tank." Steph giggled. "I saw the way she kept smiling at you."

"Hmm…I may have to check out the snack machine in her area before I go home." Tank laughed.

"She's pretty too…and nice." Steph added.

Bobby and Lester were sitting with Ranger when Steph walked in the room.

"Hey Beautiful." Lester said.

"Les, Bobby…how's he doing?" Steph asked.

"He's been resting fairly well. He started twisting around and mumbling in his sleep again, so they gave him another dose of medicine.

He's getting a continuous drip in his IV, but he seems to be fighting the medicine." Bobby explained.

"Even under the influence of drugs, Ranger has to do things his way." Lester laughed.

"We're going to be heading out, Angel. It's been a very long night and day for us. Hector and Ren will be right outside that door, if you need anything. Lester and Hal will be here in the morning to relieve Hector and Ren. I'll have Ella get some things together for Ranger and send them with Lester and Hal tomorrow. If you need me, don't hesitate to call, ok?"

"Yes Sir." Steph saluted.

"I'll even bring you breakfast in the morning, Beautiful." Lester hugged her.

Once the three stooges left, Steph pulled up a chair next to Ranger's bed.

"Hey, I'm back. Sorry I was gone so long. I tried to get back before they moved you. I didn't you want to be in a strange room alone. Bobby and Lester kept you company until I got back though.

I hope you don't get tired of me. I'm here until you wake up and tell me to get out of your room. I guess you can say I'm moving in your room. I have more things here than you do.

Lula and Connie said to tell you they hope you get well soon. You should've seen the look on their faces when I told them to tell Vinnie I was taking off a whole week…maybe longer. Man, they had fifty thousand questions.

I called my mom and dad's house to let them know where I'd be in case they needed to reach me. Grandma answered. She said to tell you to get well. She said if I needed any help giving you a bed bath to let her know; she'd come help me. "Steph laughed. She knew if Ranger were awake, he'd be shivering at the thought of Grandma giving him a bed bath. "Don't worry though, I didn't tell her where you were." She kept talking…about anything she could think of to tell him.

"I hope you don't mind I brought my laptop. Tank asked if I could do a few searches while I was doing nothing except sitting here staring at you. He thought I would get tired looking at you. As if.

Did I ever tell you about the time when I was fifteen? Mare and I were taking Driver's Ed. Or about the time…"

Steph felt like she was talking to herself. But, it didn't stop her. She talked to him until her voice was hoarse and she could barely hold her eyes open.

When she could finally go no more, she propped her feet on the edge of Ranger's bed and fell asleep holding his hand.

It was going to be a long three days.

_**Tbc**_

Sorry it's a little short. Next chapter is way longer. Thx for all the wonderful reviews and those who patiently waited for an update. Thx for not giving up on my story. RL is just so inconsiderate sometimes.


	10. Chapter 10

You know the drill. After all this time and I still don't…she still does and unfortunately I never will…

WHERE'S YOUR BALLS

THE FINAL CHAPTER

Steph spent the next three days by Ranger's side. The only time she left the room was to take care of nature's call or to shower. If she was going to shower, she made sure one of the guys were sitting with him.

She knew she was being ridiculous, but she didn't want him left alone. What if he woke and didn't know where he was or was in pain. What if he tried to get out of bed? There'd be no one to help him.

She was never away from him very long. Even though he may not want her there when he finally woke up, she was going to be by his side until he did wake up and tell her to leave.

On the third morning Ranger had been in the coma, the doctor came in and ordered his drip to be reduced. He told Steph that Ranger should start to wake up in a few hours.

Dr. Rasawski explained that he may be in a lot of pain and possibly confused at first. The confusion would be from the drugs still being in his system. Steph was to call the nurse as soon as he started to wake.

Everyone knew today was the day that the doctor was going to allow Ranger to come out of the coma. Several of the Rangeman men had stopped by throughout the day but Ranger was still sleeping.

Steph continued to sit by his bed, holding his hand, talking to him. By early evening, Steph was starting to worry. A nurse would come in about every three hours and turn down his IV a little more, but there were no signs of Ranger waking. Except for an occasional moan, there was no response from him.

At seven, the Dr. Rasawski stopped in to see how Ranger was doing.

"Doctor, shouldn't he have woken up by now? Is it normal that he hasn't?" She questioned.

"His body may not be ready to wake up, yet." He explained.

"He's almost off the medicines completely? Does that mean he's in a coma on his own?" Steph questioned.

"It appears that Mr. Manoso is in a coma. I'll order an EEG for in the morning so we can look at his brain waves. Meanwhile, we're going to take him off the meds, completely. I'll write orders to check his vital signs every two hours for the first six hours and every four hours after that until we get the EEG results.

If he starts to wake up or if he seems to be in distress, call for the nurse immediately." Dr. Rasawski told her. "But I don't want you staying up all night to watch him."

"Steph, he's still hooked up to the monitors. That will tell us if something happens. Here." He said reaching up to grab the string connected to the overhead light. "I'm going to wrap this around Mr. Manoso's finger. If he wakes up or starts moving, he'll pull on the string and on comes the light. Get some rest and I'll see you in the morning."

"I…uh…" Steph started to say something.

"Get some rest. You're looking tired. I don't want to have to be treating both of you."

Steph had run out of new and interesting things to tell Ranger so she had switched to reading to him. She had gotten some books for Christmas.

The books were about a brotherhood of Vampire Warriors. Each book was about a different brother. "Damn…these books are hot." Steph thought. She couldn't help but fantasize about her and Ranger doing some of the things in the books.

The books were probably not Ranger's style, but Steph read to him anyway.

The EEG results showed that everything was fine with Ranger's brain waves. There was no reason he was still in a coma. No reason other than he just wasn't ready to return to the land of the living.

It had been nine days since Ranger was completely off the medicine that was keeping him in a coma. The only thing left flowing through his veins was life-sustaining nutrients. He had gone from a respirator to a mask and now he was down to small amounts of oxygen entering through his nose.

Steph was sitting by his bed, as usual, reading to him when Lester and Bobby walked in the room. She hadn't left Ranger's room since he got there. Several of her friends and most all of the Merry Men, even her mother and father, had stopped by to see if they could get her to get out for a while. She refused. She wouldn't leave Ranger's room…not even for just a few minutes.

"Hey Beautiful." Lester walked over to give her a hug.

"Hey Les, Bobby. What are you guys up to today?" Steph hugged first Lester then Bobby.

"Come by to see how the boss is doing." Bobby said.

"Unfortunately, there's no change." Steph said. "Dr. Rasawski said there's no reason why he hasn't woken up, yet. I don't understand. Why hasn't he woke up, Bobby?"

"Patience, Angel, he will." Bobby sympathetically said. "He will wake up in his own time. He or rather his body just isn't ready to wake up, yet."

"How long do you think it'll be?" Steph asked.

"You know, Steph, you don't have to stay here day after day. You are allowed to leave the hospital. How long has it been since you've been outside this room?" Lester asked.

"I'm fine." Steph insisted.

"No you're not. You look exhausted." Lester observed. "We're going to be here for a while; why don't you get out of this room for just a little bit? I promise we'll call you if there's any change."

"I'm fine…really." Steph insisted.

"Angel, I insist. Go…get some fresh air. There's an SUV parked out front. Go for a drive. Go see your parents. Go to the bond office. Anywhere…just take some Steph time." Bobby insisted.

"I agree." Steph turned around to see Dr. Rasawski standing in Ranger's doorway. "We are taking Mr. Manoso for a few tests. He'll be gone about two hours, why don't you use that time to get out of this hospital for a while."

"But, what if he wakes up and I'm not here? He won't know I was here. He won't know I care. He won't even know I had been here." Steph argued.

"Angel, if he wakes up, we'll call you." Bobby said.

"Steph, I promise…he knows you're here." Dr. Rasawski stated. "I've seen how agitated he can be when you're not with him."

"Babe, I know you've been here with me the whole time." A raspy voice came for the other side of the room.

The four of them turned to look toward Ranger's bed. He was in a half-sitting position staring at his two friends, the woman he hoped to make his and a man he assumed to be his doctor.

The four of them seemed to be speechless. Ranger had been in coma for twelve days and all of a sudden he wakes up as if he was taking a nap. Steph's eyes widened. She stared at Ranger as if she couldn't believe what she was seeing.

Bobby wasn't any less stunned. He'd seen a lot in his time as a medic, but he'd never seen anyone pop out of a coma. Usually a person slowly comes out of a coma.

Lester just stood there with his mouth hanging open.

Steph was the first to regain her senses.

"Ranger! Oh my God, are you okay?" Steph rushed to his bedside. "I've been worried sick about you. Are you in pain? Do you need anything? Something to drink? Oh my God! You're awake. I was so worried you'd never wake up."

Then her expression changed and she let Ranger have it, for all she was worth. "Don't you ever do that to me again. Do you know how worried I've been? Your heat stopped twice. They had to do CPR and then Bobby sedated me and I had this nightmare and I thought you were dead and then you wouldn't wake up even when they took you off the meds. You had me scared to death…and what the hell were you thinking walking up on a skip's door like you did? Do you not practice what you preach? How many times have you told me not to do that, Mister?" Steph ranted.

"Babe, stop long enough to take a breath." Ranger laughed.

What the hell. The man just came out of a coma and he's laughing. Oh…if Steph hadn't been so glad to see him awake, she'd really been mad at him.

"I don't understand what you think is so funny. You've been in that bed…unconscious for twelve days. I've sat here and talked to you, read to you, begged you to wake up and nothing. When you do finally wake up, you laugh at me?" Steph continued yelling at him.

Ranger reached out and grabbed Steph's hand. He pulled her close enough to him where he could reach her face. He pulled her face close to his. He pulled her lips to his. Pressing them tightly to his, he kissed her hard. When he released her, she was gasping for breath.

Steph could hear the doctor, Bobby and Lester laughing behind her. "What the hell was that about?" She questioned.

"I think the boss man was trying to shut you up, Bombshell." Lester laughed at her.

"Okay, if all of you will excuse me, I need check out my patient. I'll let you know when I'm done and you can come back." Dr. Rasawski said.

"Steph stays." Ranger growled.

"It won't take long and then she'll be back." The doctor stated.

"She stays." Ranger ordered.

"Ok, Steph can stay. I don't even know why I was arguing with you." Dr. Rasawski laughed.

Ranger seemed to be fine. His vital signs were good. There was no apparent brain damage. He was in a small amount of pain, but that, the doctor said was normal. The doctor was right; his body just wasn't ready to wake up yet.

While the doctor checked Ranger, Lester and Bobby walked out to let Hal and Hector, who was the guards for the day, know Ranger was awake and make a few calls. There were a lot of people who was waiting to hear that Ranger was out of the coma.

Tank and Ren were in the area the hospital when the call came that Ranger was awake. They made a "U" turn in the middle of the road and headed toward the hospital.

When Dr. Rasawski finished his exam, he left to let Ranger's visitors come in.

"Not, too long." He warned. "He's just come out of a coma and even though he seems to be fine, he still needs to rest."

Tank was the first to enter the room, followed by Lester and Bobby. Hector, Ren and Hal followed up the rear.

Steph was perched on the bed at Ranger's side. He had his arm around her.

"Well…look who decided to return to the land of the living." Tank commented.

"Really. We were beginning to think you were going to sleep the rest of your life away." Lester teased him.

"Not a chance. Never. There was no way I wasn't going to wake up and not wrap my arms around this beautiful woman again." Ranger smiled at Steph.

"Yeah, well…you're lucky you woke up when you did. One more day and I would've had her convinced I was better for her." Lester joked.

"Boss, don't believe him. Steph hasn't left your side, except when you were in surgery, since you were brought to the hospital." Ren jabbed Lester in the ribs.

"Who the hell is running my company if you goofs are all here?" Ranger growled.

"Don't worry, Boss, it's running on auto pilot." Hal joked.

"Ok, party is over. You've all seen I'm ok. Get back to work. Steph and I need some time." Ranger ordered.

Once all the men had said their good-byes and left, it was just Ranger and Steph. Steph made a move to slide out of Ranger's arms and out of the bed.

"Where are you going?" Ranger asked.

"I thought I'd sit in my…huh, that's funny. I've sat in that chair so much I've come to think of it as mine." Steph smiled.

Ranger tightened his grip on her. "I want you to stay right here next to me."

"I just thought maybe you were uncomfortable with me against you."

"Never. Please don't move. Stay here next to me."

"Ok. You sure I'm not hurting you?"

"Positive."

Steph settled back into Ranger's arms. Neither one of them said anything for the longest. Ranger had his arms wrapped around Steph with his face buried in her hair. Every time he breathed in, her scent tickled his nose.

Steph was exhausted. She had been sleeping in the chair every night for twelve days. It felt so good to actually lie down. It wasn't long before she fell asleep.

She woke several hours later. She looked up to see a smiling Ranger looking down at her.

"Wow…how long have I been sleeping?" Steph asked.

"About three hours."

"I can't believe I fell asleep. I'm sorry."

"You're exhausted, Babe. You've been sleeping in that chair for almost two weeks. Don't be sorry." Ranger kissed the top of her head.

Steph made a move to crawl out of Ranger's arms and his bed. She knew he had to be stiff from lying in one position for three hours. She sure was.

"Where are you going?" Ranger asked.

"I'm sure you're stiff by now. You're in the same position you were in before I fell asleep." She answered.

"Babe, I've been in a coma for twelve days. I don't think lying here with you in my arms is going to make that much difference."

"Yeah, but I made sure you weren't in the same position the whole time."

"I appreciate it, but you didn't have to do that, Babe."

"I had the nurses help me. It wasn't that big a deal."

"Thank you." Ranger kissed her lips.

"I…umm…I was just trying to make sure you were comfortable…you know just in case you were aware of…well…I just wanted you to be comfortable." Steph wasn't sure what she wanted to say. She wanted to tell him she wanted him to know she was there.

"Babe, I knew you were here." Ranger said as if he was answering her silent question. "I could feel you near me. I can't explain it…but I could feel you." Ranger paused for a moment. "I'm glad you were here."

"You knew?" She timidly asked.

"Yes, I did."

"I was afraid you would wake up and want me to leave."

"I'm glad you're here. Babe, I think we need to talk about what happened before I was shot. I think I have a lot of explaining to do."

"Ranger, you don't owe me an explanation. You did what you did and I'm sure you had your reasons. I'm just glad you're ok."

"I want to explain. I…did Tank give you a message from me?"

"Yes, he did. He told me he wasn't going to give me the message, but when I wouldn't come to the hospital, he told me. He figured it was the only way to get me to come to the hospital."

"You weren't going to come to the hospital?" The look in Ranger's eyes broke Steph's heart. There was pain in his eyes.

"I didn't think you would want me here. I said some horrible things to you and well…you hadn't called me or anything in weeks. I just didn't think you'd want me to come."

"Babe, I'm sorry. I thought I was doing the right thing. Again, I was wrong. I thought you needed space. I was trying not to push you." Ranger apologized.

"Ranger, I don't know what I needed. I was hurt and embarrassed."

"Stephanie, look at me." Steph looked up at Ranger. "I am so sorry. I never meant to hurt you. I did what I did because I thought it was best."

"Best for whom? Me or you?"

"You. You were always my number one concern."

"Ranger, I said some really horrible things to you and I'm really sorry. I'm sorry I said I hated you and that part wasn't true. I was so afraid that you were going to die and I would never have the chance to tell you that I…well that I didn't hate you. The other part was true. I spent so much time and energy trying to hate you. I was so angry at you…"

"Babe."

"No, let me finish, Ranger. I was so angry with you because I thought I wasn't good enough for you. Dickie and Joe were assholes. When they cheated on me, I wasn't that surprised. Sure it hurt my pride, but I got over it, eventually."

"Steph, I haven't been with another woman since I met you."

"That's not what I'm talking about, Ranger. Just let me finish and it'll make more sense…maybe. I'm not sure. It makes sense to me."

"I'll listen, Babe. But, when you're done, it's my turn. Agreed?"

"Fine. Now where was I? I've spent my whole feeling as if I wasn't enough. Joe took my virginity on the bakery floor then run off to the Navy. Dickie cheated on me and it only took him less than a month after we were married. Joe will always have a thing with Terry. Can't you see…you sending me back to Joe confirmed my insecurities?

I felt like I didn't measure up to what you wanted. It hurt so badly when you climbed out of my bed and walked out of my apartment."

"Babe…"

"No, Ranger, let me finish. I kept going back to Joe no matter what because it was better than being alone. But, the thing was…even though I wasn't alone when I was with Joe, I was still lonely."

Tears had started streaming down Steph's face. She wiped her chin with the back of her hand and continued. "As angry as I was with you, I was disappointed in myself for allowing you to play with me. I was so desperate for anything that you would give me, I allowed you to touch or kiss me whenever it was convenient for you.

I'm not going to settle for being second best anymore. If you want the icing, you have to eat the cake also." Steph took a deep breath and blew it out before continuing.

She was nervous. This is where she told Ranger exactly how it was going to be. If he wanted to play, it was going to be on her terms…not his. She was finished being a play toy. It was going to be full time…all the time or nothing at all.

"It's all or nothing, Ranger. I'm done settling for second best. I deserve better than stolen kisses in the alley, feeling me up when you're attaching a wire to me, an occasional a scratch to an occasional itch.

I have so much love to give and it's yours if you want it, but if you don't then I'm moving on…I deserve to loved."

Steph had finished her little speech. She looked to Ranger for a reaction. As usual, his blank stare was all that was there. "Oh shit." Steph thought. She took Ranger's silence as a sign and not a good one.

Just as she was climbing out of the bed, Ranger began to speak.

"Ok." He said.

"That's it…that's all you have to say?"

"No, but figured it was a good start." Ranger laughed. "Babe, first…you are more woman than any man deserves. You are beautiful; passionate…you're an amazing lover. Any man would be a fool not to want you.

Second, I only stole those moments for the same reason you allowed me to, because it was better than not having anything at all. I ach for you both physically as well as emotionally.

I was chicken shit…plain and simple. I was afraid of you one day waking up and being disgusted by some of the things I had done. I was afraid of you not loving me as much as I loved you.

I know it sounds crazy but men have insecurities also. All of us do, whether we want to admit it or not.

I love you so much, I'm willing to meet your terms whatever they are. You make the rules and I'll follow them. Now who sounds pathetic?"

"Anything I want?" She asked.

"Yep. You name it and I'll follow your lead."

"What if I want to get married?"

"That's fine. We'll get married."

"What if I just want to move in and never get married?"

"OK."

"What if I want a baby?"

"OK."

"What if I don't want to move in, get married or have a baby?"

"OK."

"You will agree to anything I ask?"

"Yep."

"Ranger don't you think you'd be miserable?"

"Stephanie Plum, I love you with all that I have in me. I'm tired of playing games. I made a mistake once…one that almost cost me all that is important to me. I'm not taking that chance again.

I will spend the rest of my life trying to make it up to you on your terms. As long as those terms involve you, me and a life time together."

"I love you, Ranger."

"That's it…that's all you have to say is you love me?" Ranger teased her.

"No, but I figured it was a good start." She giggled.

**Epilogue to follow.**


	11. Chapter 11

_**WHERE'S YOUR BALLS**_

_**EPILOGUE**_

_**Steph continued to stay at the hospital with Ranger until the doctor released him, a week later. Only now, she slept in the bed with him instead of on the chair.**_

"_**Babe, I'm going home in the morning, will you come with me?"**_

"_**Uh…news flash, Ranger I'm only here because you're here. I'm sure the hell not staying when you leave." She teased.**_

"_**Smartass. I meant will you come and stay at my apartment." **_

"_**I know what you meant. I've been thinking about this. It would be logical for me to stay with you so I can look after you. I don't want you to think of it as permanent, though. I'm not sure I'm ready to make it permanent."**_

"_**I understand. Your rules, remember?"**_

_**Ranger's recovery was slower than he would've liked. He was going stir crazy being on light duty. He didn't push the issue, though. As long as he was still healing, Steph was there. Even though it was driving him crazy, he didn't care if it took a year for him to heal. The longer it took the better chance she wouldn't want to go back to her apartment.**_

_**The hardest part of his recovery was going to bed each and every night with Steph and being satisfied with only holding her. Making love to her…that's what he would've rather done. The Dr. Rowsalski hadn't released him for physical activity and Steph wouldn't budge. She was determined that they were going to wait until the doctor released him.**_

_**Almost everything in her apartment was already at Ranger's. She had slowly, little bits at a time, moved her stuff into Ranger's place.**_

_**On the day of Ranger's checkup appointment, Steph asked Hal if he would take Ranger to his checkup. She had a surprise planned for Ranger. She was almost positive that the doctor was going to release him. Oh, boy…she had been suffering just as much as Ranger had.**_

"_**Babe, Hal told me he was taking me to my appointment. Aren't you coming with me?"**_

"_**No, I'm sorry. I have something I have to do. I tried, but I really need to take care of this today. It shouldn't take me much longer than your appointment. I'll meet you back here. We go out to dinner to celebrate the doctor releasing you."**_

"_**You can go to the doctor with me and then we can take care of whatever you need afterward. Then we can celebrate back at the apartment. **_

_**I swear if I have to go to bed with you one more night and not be able to make love with you, I'm going to die." Ranger said, wrapping his arms around Steph's waist.**_

"_**I told you I could sleep on the sofa." Steph teased.**_

"_**And I told you, you were doing no such thing."**_

"_**I'll be back by the time you get back. Really, I need to do this. I'll see you soon. Good luck at the doctor. I love you." Steph said, kissing Ranger on the cheek. Then she was out the door before he could respond.**_

_**Steph made it back to the apartment before Ranger did. She was hoping that was the case. **_

_**She took the fasted shower in history of showers, styled her hair and put on a bit of make up. She was stepping into the bedroom to find something to wear when she heard the front door open.**_

_**She quickly slipped into a slinky little nighty and put a robe on over it, just in case the doctor didn't release Ranger.**_

"_**Hey You." She said walking out of the bedroom.**_

"_**Hey." He said, smiling and waving a piece of paper at her.**_

"_**What's this?" Steph said, trying to snag the paper.**_

_**Ranger quickly jerked it away. "This means you're in a whole lot of trouble tonight."**_

"_**Am I?" Steph purred.**_

"_**Oh yes you are." Ranger grabbed her and pulled her to him. "I have lots of energy I haven't been using lately and I plan on burning a bunch of it off tonight. What do you have on under that rob, Babe?"**_

"_**Don't worry about what I'm wearing. You'll see in due time.**_

"_**I took the liberty of having Ella make us something special tonight. She'll be up in about a half hour. Why don't you go take a shower and I'll wait for Ella."**_

_**After dinner, Steph sent Ranger to relax in the living room. She had loaded the CD changer with some of Ranger's favorite music. She picked up a bottle of wine and had it chilling while they ate dinner.**_

_**Steph came out carrying the bottle of wine, two glasses and a manila envelope. She sat the wine and the glasses down on the coffee table and joined Ranger on the sofa.**_

"_**I have a surprise for you." She said handing him the envelope.**_

_**Ranger opened the envelope. His brows furrowed as he read the papers. "Why are you giving me this? I don't understand. I was hoping you'd want to stay."**_

"_**This is the original copy of the lease at my apartment. The lease was up a few days ago. I asked Dillon if I could have the original copy." Steph took the papers from Ranger's hands and ripped it in to two halves, and then she ripped those two halves again.**_

_**Ranger looked a little confused. He wanted to hope this meant she was moving in with him, permanently. But with Steph, he learned long time ago, not to assume anything.**_

"_**I chose not to renew my lease. That is if I have somewhere else to live. I guess I should've made sure I did before I ripped my lease…huh?" She giggled.**_

_**Ranger grabbed the pieces of papers from Steph's hand, threw them on the floor and pulled her into his lap. He kissed her like he'd kissed no other woman in his life. She was his and now he knew it was forever.**_

"_**I love you." He whispered against her lips.**_

"_**I love you." She replied.**_

_**Two years later Steph and Ranger were married. A year and a half after they married, Ricardo Franklin Manoso was born. Two years later, Carlos Armondo and Kyla Michelle Manoso were born. **_

_**Today Ranger and Steph's friends and family are joining them in celebrating their 30th**__** wedding anniversary and Rick officially taking over the Miami office. Steph wasn't sure she was ready for him to move so far away, but Ranger finally convinced her it was time to let him fly. That she understood.**_

_**Carlos decided he wanted to be a doctor. He is in his fourth year of residency. He met a nurse in his second year. Everyone is sure they'll get married. **_

_**Kyla went to law school. She works for a very prestigious law firm in Trenton. She is being considered for Jr. Partner next year. She will be the youngest lawyer to make partner at her firm. **_

_**Lester was shot in the line of duty. He had to retire from fieldwork. It drives him crazy and he drives everyone else crazy. He married his physical theorist and they have a son and a daughter.**_

_**Tank married the nurse that he met when Ranger had been shot. They have a son. He and Kyla have been dating for a while now. No signs of a wedding yet, though.**_

_**Bobby married and divorced a girl he met while working a take down at a club one night. They had son named Jackson who looks just like his dad. He adores Bobby. He wants to be a Rangeman when he grows up. **_

_**Bobby petitioned for full custody of his son when his ex-wife was arrested and sent to prison. The judge granted him custody with no hesitation. **_

_**He's now dating a lawyer from Kyla's office. She is great with Jackson and he loves her. Bobby plans to get her an engagement ring for Christmas.**_

_**Hal and Cal met twins while they were looking after the Boston office. They were all married in a double ceremony. Hal and Cal transferred and are now running the Boston office.**_

_**Hal and his wife had a daughter. Cal and his had a son. Hmm…what do you think is going to happen there?**_

_**Ranger and Steph stood on their back patio watching their friends, children and other family members. Both of them had their arms around each other and smiles on their faces. It was good to be surrounded by the people they loved.**_

"_**I love you, Mrs. Manoso."**_

"_**I love you, Mr. Manoso."**_

_**THE END**_

_**I'd just like to thank everyone who stuck in there w/me. It's been a fun trip and hope yaw enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed being you tour guide.**_

_**Sorry for the delays along the way. Thank yaw all again for the wonderful reviews and words of kindness thru my mom's passing.**_

_**See yaw all on the next journey.**_


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